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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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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 · sharp · fan · date · wound · press · race · charge

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. race — humankind
  5. mine — for digging
  6. press — a publisher
  7. press — newspapers
  8. charge — electricity
  9. race — a contest
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. date — the fruit
  18. charge — in control
  19. charge — a price
  20. press — to push
  21. wound — an injury
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. wound — an injury

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