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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. race — humankind
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. scale — in music
  7. race — the arms race
  8. scale — size or range
  9. kid — to tease
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bear — the animal
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cap — of ice
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cap — a lid
  20. race — a contest
  21. degree — temperature
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bear — the animal

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