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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 120 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. capital — a city
  3. cap — a lid
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bound — tied together
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. hand — help
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bear — the animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — a country
  19. cap — of ice
  20. bound — obliged
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bound — certain
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. calf — of the leg

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