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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. cap — of ice
  4. key — for a lock
  5. dip — to sink
  6. key — in music
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. spring — the season
  9. rest — what's left
  10. key — the most important part
  11. spring — of water
  12. cap — a hat
  13. rest — a break
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. spring — a coil
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — an illness
  20. press — newspapers
  21. press — to push
  22. press — a publisher
  23. wax — to grow
  24. cold — not warm

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