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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. cap — a hat
  3. fall — the season
  4. cap — of ice
  5. date — the fruit
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. fall — to drop
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cap — a lid
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. foot — a measure
  14. tear — to rip
  15. wake — a trail
  16. ball — a dance
  17. fall — to drop
  18. tear — from crying
  19. ball — a great time
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. game — a match
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. game — a kind of play

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