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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cap — a hat
  3. rock — music
  4. file — a document
  5. cap — of ice
  6. kick — in football
  7. land — ground
  8. file — a line of people
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. land — a country
  11. rush — hurry
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. craft — boats
  17. cap — a lid
  18. file — a tool
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. craft — a skill
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. rock — a stone

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