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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. cap — of ice
  4. scale — in music
  5. mine — for digging
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. tube — the underground
  10. bass — low music
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. tube — a container
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cap — a lid
  18. shower — rain
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. scale — size or range
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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