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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. lean — to bend
  3. clip — a video
  4. sharp — clever
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. plane — a tool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cue — for pool
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. cap — a lid
  15. clip — to cut
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cue — a signal
  19. clip — for paper
  20. lean — thin
  21. dip — to sink
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cold — the Cold War

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