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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wound — an injury
  3. drill — the tool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — a country
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — army training
  10. key — in music
  11. land — ground
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. drill — a practice
  16. land — to come down
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. cap — of ice
  20. cap — a lid
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. key — the most important part

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