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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: bore · lie · current · scale · charge · coach · clip · cold

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. scale — size or range
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bore — to tire
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. clip — to cut
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. lie — to recline
  11. current — of water
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. bore — to drill
  14. charge — electricity
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — a video
  17. charge — in control
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. scale — in music
  23. current — electric
  24. current — happening now

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