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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. rock — a stone
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. track — a song
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — a city
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. track — a path
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. cap — a lid
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cap — of ice
  18. spring — the season
  19. content — happy
  20. spring — of water
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. rock — music
  23. content — the amount
  24. row — to paddle

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