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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — of ice
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kid — to tease
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — the animal
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. ground — a position
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. mine — for digging
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. kid — child
  22. cap — a lid
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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