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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. spring — the season
  3. squash — the sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. cap — a lid
  8. squash — to crush
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. foot — a measure
  11. net — for catching
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. spring — a coil
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bear — the animal
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. cap — of ice
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. bear — the animal
  21. spring — of water
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. net — in sport
  24. mine — for digging

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