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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bulb — for light
  3. tear — from crying
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. tear — from crying
  6. last — final
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cap — a lid
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cap — of ice
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — help
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. last — finally
  18. bulb — of a plant

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