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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — a video
  4. craft — a skill
  5. cap — a lid
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — an illness
  9. content — the amount
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — music
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. march — the month
  18. cap — of ice
  19. content — happy
  20. clip — for paper
  21. pass — a permit
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. craft — boats
  24. craft — a handicraft

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