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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. content — happy
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. content — the amount
  5. ground — a position
  6. pit — in a race
  7. race — the arms race
  8. prune — to trim
  9. bound — tied together
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bound — obliged
  14. race — humankind
  15. cap — a lid
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. race — a contest
  18. spring — of water
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cap — of ice
  21. ground — crushed
  22. bound — certain
  23. pit — a hole
  24. ground — the earth

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