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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: current · charge · dip · cold · drill · game · face · trunk

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. current — happening now
  4. game — wild animals
  5. charge — in control
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. drill — a practice
  9. dip — to sink
  10. face — to confront
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cold — not warm
  14. game — a match
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. face — part of the head
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. current — of water
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. current — electric
  22. cold — an illness
  23. drill — army training
  24. face — to point toward

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