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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. present — there
  3. tear — from crying
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. tear — from crying
  6. chip — to eat
  7. race — humankind
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. face — to point toward
  10. content — happy
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. race — a contest
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cap — a lid
  16. present — the time now
  17. face — part of the head
  18. tear — to rip
  19. present — a gift
  20. race — the arms race
  21. face — to confront
  22. chip — for betting
  23. content — the amount
  24. cap — of ice

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