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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Did you ________________ the button?
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cold — not warm
  3. press — newspapers
  4. content — the amount
  5. wake — a trail
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cap — a lid
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cue — a signal
  12. press — a publisher
  13. content — happy
  14. cold — an illness
  15. ground — crushed
  16. cue — a hint
  17. fork — in a road
  18. press — to push
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cap — of ice

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