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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 120 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. scale — in music
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chair — a leader
  7. wind — moving air
  8. branch — a division
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. hand — help
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. kid — to tease
  15. scale — size or range
  16. kid — child
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. hand — in cards
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. hand — part of the body

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