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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 116 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. scale — size or range
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. firm — decided
  6. net — for catching
  7. firm — steady
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spring — the season
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cap — of ice
  12. hand — help
  13. firm — a company
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. spring — a coil
  16. net — in sport
  17. row — to paddle
  18. hand — in cards
  19. net — after costs
  20. spring — of water
  21. cap — a lid
  22. scale — in music
  23. mine — for digging
  24. row — a line

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