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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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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: fall · charge · pit · march · ground · mate · straw · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. charge — a price
  3. pit — a hole
  4. ground — crushed
  5. mate — to breed
  6. ground — a position
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fall — to drop
  9. charge — in control
  10. ground — the earth
  11. charge — electricity
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mate — a partner
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. march — the month
  16. fall — the season
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. fall — to drop
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. mate — a friend
  22. march — the month
  23. kid — to tease
  24. march — music

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