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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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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: wake · date · leaves · pitch · kid · cap · wind · charge

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. cap — of ice
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. date — the fruit
  6. kid — to tease
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. charge — in control
  9. wind — moving air
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wake — a trail
  13. cap — a hat
  14. pitch — completely
  15. charge — electricity
  16. kid — child
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cap — a lid
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. charge — a price

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