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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. spring — a coil
  3. field — farmland
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. spring — the season
  6. face — to confront
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. field — for sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cap — of ice
  13. race — humankind
  14. spring — of water
  15. field — a subject
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. race — the arms race
  20. race — a contest
  21. face — to point toward
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cap — a lid

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