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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. object — an aim
  3. present — a gift
  4. last — final
  5. spring — the season
  6. cap — a hat
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. last — finally
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cap — a lid
  11. file — a document
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — a thing
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. last — to go on
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water
  19. present — the time now
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. file — a line of people
  22. present — there
  23. snap — to click
  24. file — a tool

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