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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. spring — a coil
  3. tear — from crying
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. tear — to rip
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a dance
  13. pound — a weight
  14. spring — the season
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. cap — of ice
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — of water
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. cap — a lid
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. tear — from crying
  23. march — the month
  24. march — music

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