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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. spell — letters
  3. can — a tin
  4. key — for a lock
  5. court — for sport
  6. key — the most important part
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cap — a hat
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spell — a short time
  13. can — a tin
  14. field — a subject
  15. cap — of ice
  16. can — to be able to
  17. field — farmland
  18. key — in music
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — magic
  21. chest — a box
  22. court — of a king
  23. chest — of your body
  24. court — of law

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