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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.

Words on the sheet
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: mine · charge · lie · spring · swing · chair · cold · land

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. mine — for digging
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. charge — in control
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. spring — the season
  10. land — ground
  11. spring — a coil
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. swing — to play on
  15. land — to come down
  16. land — a country
  17. chair — a leader
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. spring — of water
  21. charge — a price
  22. charge — electricity
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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