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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — of ice
  6. capital — a city
  7. ball — a dance
  8. file — a document
  9. sharp — clever
  10. current — of water
  11. current — happening now
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. capital — money
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. file — a tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. kick — in football
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. current — electric
  21. ball — a great time
  22. file — a line of people
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wind — to turn a key

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