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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: charge · pop · chest · ruler · snap · cap · field · bass

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. chest — of your body
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. pop — soda
  8. field — farmland
  9. cap — of ice
  10. charge — electricity
  11. field — for sport
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bass — the fish
  16. field — a subject
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. pop — to visit
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bass — low music
  21. cap — a hat
  22. charge — in control
  23. chest — a box
  24. pop — music

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