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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 116 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. last — final
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. row — a line
  9. last — finally
  10. bear — the animal
  11. row — to paddle
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. last — to go on
  16. bear — the animal
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — help
  19. fork — in a road
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cap — a lid
  23. pitch — completely
  24. fork — to eat with

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