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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: charge · mark · clip · row · cold · deal · face · kid

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. mark — a trace
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mark — a grade
  8. deal — to handle
  9. face — to point toward
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. charge — in control
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. charge — a price
  17. cold — an illness
  18. row — a line
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. kid — child
  22. clip — a video
  23. face — to confront
  24. charge — electricity

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