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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cap — a lid
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. kick — in football
  6. ground — the earth
  7. face — to confront
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. last — final
  12. bark — to shout
  13. ground — crushed
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. last — to go on
  17. tube — a container
  18. last — finally
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. tube — the underground
  22. face — part of the head
  23. cap — of ice
  24. ground — a position

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