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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bear · mate · hand · kid · fan · current · bat · charge

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. current — happening now
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. charge — electricity
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — to breed
  9. kid — to tease
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. hand — help
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. current — of water
  14. bear — the animal
  15. charge — in control
  16. current — electric
  17. mate — a partner
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. kid — child
  24. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com