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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. field — farmland
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cue — a hint
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cue — a signal
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. game — a match
  10. lie — to recline
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cap — of ice
  13. game — wild animals
  14. present — the time now
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. field — for sport
  18. present — there
  19. field — a subject
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. present — a gift
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. cue — for pool

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