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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. key — for a lock
  3. tear — from crying
  4. key — the most important part
  5. key — in music
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a lid
  9. tear — to rip
  10. race — humankind
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. content — the amount
  13. spring — a coil
  14. race — a contest
  15. bulb — for light
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. content — happy
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tear — from crying
  23. dip — to sink
  24. race — the arms race

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