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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. kid — to tease
  3. net — for catching
  4. cap — a hat
  5. net — in sport
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — a law
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. stock — goods
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. face — part of the head
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — child
  19. net — after costs
  20. cap — a lid
  21. face — to confront
  22. stock — shares
  23. wound — an injury
  24. face — to point toward

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