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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: pitcher · swing · sharp · clip · charge · land · shower · bear

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — clever
  4. charge — electricity
  5. shower — to wash
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — a video
  8. charge — a price
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. charge — in control
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. shower — rain
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. swing — to play on
  19. land — ground
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bear — the animal
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. clip — to cut

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