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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. dip — to sink
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. cap — a lid
  8. content — happy
  9. cap — of ice
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. key — for a lock
  12. pass — a permit
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. key — the most important part
  19. perch — the fish
  20. key — in music
  21. content — the amount
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. cold — an illness

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