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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: charge · tear · fork · capital · chair · vault · pound · cold

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. capital — a city
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. charge — a price
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pound — a weight
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. charge — in control
  17. chair — a leader
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. vault — a safe
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fork — a garden tool

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