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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 120 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: fall · chest · mine · file · wake · charge · court · prune

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. charge — a price
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. chest — a box
  5. court — of a king
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. charge — in control
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. file — a document
  13. fall — the season
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chest — of your body
  16. charge — electricity
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. court — of law
  19. court — for sport
  20. fall — to drop
  21. prune — to trim
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a tool
  24. wake — a trail

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