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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wound — an injury
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. stand — to bear
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. track — a path
  14. track — a song
  15. ground — a position
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. wake — a trail
  24. track — to keep track

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