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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. tear — to rip
  4. key — the most important part
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bark — to shout
  7. track — to keep track
  8. wind — moving air
  9. cap — of ice
  10. tear — from crying
  11. track — a song
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. key — for a lock
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cap — a lid
  19. plane — a tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wake — a trail
  22. track — a path
  23. key — in music
  24. bark — of a tree

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