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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: net · cell · hand · bass · mine · charge · cold · wake

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. charge — in control
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. charge — electricity
  5. mine — for digging
  6. hand — help
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. net — in sport
  10. cell — in biology
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bass — the fish
  14. cell — a phone
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. net — after costs
  21. hand — in cards
  22. charge — a price
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. net — for catching

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