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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — of ice
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — farmland
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cap — a lid
  11. key — the most important part
  12. field — for sport
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. key — in music
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. land — a country
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. key — for a lock
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. field — a subject

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