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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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. tube — in a tire
  4. swing — music
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. date — the fruit
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chip — to eat
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bore — to drill
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bore — to tire
  19. swing — to play on
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cap — a lid
  24. tube — a container

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