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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. roll — a cake
  4. roll — a list
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. lean — to bend
  10. bear — the animal
  11. capital — a city
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bear — the animal
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cap — a lid
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. wax — to grow
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cold — not warm
  24. capital — money

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