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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. prune — to trim
  3. race — a contest
  4. lean — to bend
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. race — the arms race
  7. scale — size or range
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — to bear
  12. scale — in music
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. race — humankind
  15. wind — moving air
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a lid
  19. lean — thin
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. prune — to trim
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. kick — in football

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