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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: cold · charge · spell · bass · pitcher · net · perch · sharp

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. bass — the fish
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cold — an illness
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. net — in sport
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. sharp — clever
  10. charge — electricity
  11. net — for catching
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bass — low music
  20. spell — letters
  21. charge — in control
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. net — after costs
  24. spell — magic

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