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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. court — of law
  5. saw — the tool
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — rain
  8. degree — an amount
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. cap — a lid
  13. degree — from a university
  14. track — to keep track
  15. track — a path
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — of a king
  18. saw — the tool
  19. degree — temperature
  20. hand — help
  21. track — a song
  22. court — for sport
  23. cap — of ice
  24. fan — a supporter

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