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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. kid — child
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pit — in a race
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cap — a lid
  10. rush — hurry
  11. kid — to tease
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pit — a hole
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. plane — a tool
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. land — ground
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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