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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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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. cap — of ice
  3. file — a document
  4. cap — a lid
  5. band — a music group
  6. season — of the year
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. file — a line of people
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. file — a tool
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cap — a hat
  15. bat — the animal
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. band — a ring

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