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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cap — a hat
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. scale — size or range
  8. mate — a friend
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. mate — a partner
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. last — to go on
  18. tear — to rip
  19. last — final
  20. cap — of ice
  21. mate — to breed
  22. last — finally
  23. scale — in music
  24. cold — not warm

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