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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. capital — a city
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cap — of ice
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. shower — to wash
  9. chest — of your body
  10. lean — thin
  11. shower — rain
  12. wind — moving air
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cap — a lid
  15. chest — a box
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bore — to tire
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. lean — to bend

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