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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wind — moving air
  3. can — a tin
  4. face — part of the head
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. spell — magic
  8. spell — letters
  9. field — for sport
  10. fall — to drop
  11. face — to confront
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. can — a tin
  15. field — a subject
  16. deal — to handle
  17. can — to be able to
  18. face — to point toward
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. cap — a lid
  21. spell — a short time
  22. field — farmland
  23. cap — of ice
  24. deal — an agreement

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