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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: file · court · toast · tear · charge · bat · kick · plane

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. charge — a price
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. court — of law
  7. charge — in control
  8. tear — from crying
  9. charge — electricity
  10. tear — from crying
  11. plane — a tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. toast — bread
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. file — a tool
  17. kick — in football
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. file — a document
  20. bat — the animal
  21. tear — to rip
  22. file — a line of people
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — in geometry

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