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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. face — to confront
  3. craft — a skill
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. net — for catching
  6. face — to point toward
  7. net — after costs
  8. spring — of water
  9. face — part of the head
  10. craft — boats
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pop — soda
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. cap — a lid
  15. pop — music
  16. scale — in music
  17. cap — a hat
  18. bark — to shout
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. spring — a coil
  21. net — in sport
  22. pop — to visit
  23. spring — the season
  24. scale — for weighing

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