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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 120 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cue — a hint
  4. file — a tool
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. dip — to sink
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. land — to come down
  10. cue — for pool
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tear — to rip
  13. fall — the season
  14. file — a line of people
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. fall — to drop
  17. net — after costs
  18. land — ground
  19. cap — of ice
  20. net — for catching
  21. tear — from crying
  22. file — a document
  23. cue — a signal
  24. land — a country

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