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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cue — a hint
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. cap — a lid
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. field — for sport
  11. rule — a law
  12. field — a subject
  13. cue — for pool
  14. field — farmland
  15. rule — government
  16. face — to confront
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. file — a 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