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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. squash — to crush
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — not warm
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cap — a lid
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. mug — to rob
  11. squash — the sport
  12. mug — a cup
  13. chest — a box
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mug — a face
  16. bass — low music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. bass — the fish
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cap — of ice
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. chest — of your body
  24. ruler — for measuring

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