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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 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. file — a tool
  3. cap — a lid
  4. pop — soda
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. row — to paddle
  7. club — for dancing
  8. pop — music
  9. kid — to tease
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cap — of ice
  12. file — a document
  13. row — a line
  14. club — for golf
  15. pop — to visit
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. kid — child
  18. club — a group

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