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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: tear · firm · charge · land · date · club · hide · chest

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. charge — a price
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — ground
  5. charge — electricity
  6. firm — steady
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. land — a country
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. chest — of your body
  11. club — a group
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. land — to come down
  14. tear — from crying
  15. charge — in control
  16. tear — to rip
  17. date — the fruit
  18. firm — decided
  19. club — for golf
  20. club — for dancing
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. chest — a box
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. chest — of your body

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