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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cap — a hat
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wind — moving air
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wound — an injury
  17. track — a song
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. cap — a lid
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a path
  24. straw — a straw man

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