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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: charge · march · bank · pop · kid · present · perch · cold

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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. kid — to tease
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bank — of a river
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — child
  8. march — the month
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — the month
  11. pop — music
  12. bank — for money
  13. present — there
  14. cold — an illness
  15. charge — in control
  16. pop — to visit
  17. bank — for money
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. perch — the fish
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. march — music
  22. present — a gift
  23. present — the time now
  24. pop — soda

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