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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: kid · pitch · mine · chip · spell · charge · present · row

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. spell — magic
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. kid — to tease
  5. row — a line
  6. spell — letters
  7. present — there
  8. chip — to eat
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. chip — for betting
  11. kid — child
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. spell — a short time
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. row — to paddle
  19. charge — in control
  20. present — the time now
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. present — a gift
  23. pitch — completely
  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