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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. fall — to drop
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. prune — to trim
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chair — a leader
  8. spring — the season
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. fall — the season
  13. mine — for digging
  14. cap — a hat
  15. craft — a skill
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — in music
  18. cap — a lid
  19. spring — a coil
  20. craft — boats
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. prune — to trim
  24. spring — of water

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