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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cap — of ice
  5. scale — size or range
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. date — the fruit
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. root — of a word
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. root — the cause
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cap — a lid
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. root — of a plant
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kick — in football
  20. kid — child
  21. bear — the animal
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. bear — the animal
  24. scale — in music

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