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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. ground — crushed
  3. spell — magic
  4. wind — moving air
  5. roll — a list
  6. key — for a lock
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. cap — of ice
  10. row — a line
  11. game — a match
  12. row — to paddle
  13. ground — the earth
  14. spell — letters
  15. game — wild animals
  16. ground — a position
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wind — moving air
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. key — in music
  22. key — the most important part
  23. cap — a lid
  24. roll — a cake

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