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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: race · chest · suit · pitcher · kid · charge · land · file

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. suit — in cards
  3. file — a line of people
  4. charge — electricity
  5. land — a country
  6. file — a document
  7. chest — of your body
  8. charge — in control
  9. suit — to fit
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. kid — child
  12. land — ground
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. race — the arms race
  16. kid — to tease
  17. file — a tool
  18. race — a contest
  19. suit — clothes
  20. race — humankind
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — to come down
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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