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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. cap — a hat
  4. track — a song
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. land — a country
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. track — a path
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. ground — the earth
  12. land — to come down
  13. ground — a position
  14. spell — a short time
  15. date — the fruit
  16. cap — a lid
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. land — ground
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spell — magic
  22. cap — of ice
  23. track — to keep track
  24. spell — letters

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