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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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. land — a country
  4. cap — of ice
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. spring — of water
  7. last — to go on
  8. cap — a lid
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. land — to come down
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. spring — the season
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. foot — a measure
  16. last — finally
  17. cell — a phone
  18. kid — to tease
  19. spring — a coil
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. last — final
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. land — ground

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