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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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468
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: mouse · charge · track · cell · ground · kid · spring · degree

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. degree — an amount
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ground — a position
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. track — to keep track
  7. cell — in biology
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. ground — crushed
  10. degree — from a university
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. charge — in control
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. kid — child
  17. spring — of water
  18. ground — the earth
  19. track — a song
  20. track — a path
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. charge — electricity
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — temperature

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