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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. kid — child
  3. staff — employees
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. face — to confront
  6. face — to point toward
  7. staff — employees
  8. scale — size or range
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cap — a lid
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. cap — of ice
  14. staff — a stick
  15. sharp — clever
  16. scale — in music
  17. hand — in cards
  18. kid — to tease
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pit — in a race
  22. face — part of the head
  23. hand — help
  24. pit — a hole

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