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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: bear · wind · field · bay · band · charge · spell · cold

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cold — an illness
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. band — a music group
  9. charge — a price
  10. field — farmland
  11. spell — letters
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cold — not warm
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. charge — in control
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. field — for sport
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. field — a subject

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