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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. rule — government
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. rule — a law
  11. wound — an injury
  12. row — to paddle
  13. tube — a container
  14. tear — to rip
  15. drill — army training
  16. tube — the underground
  17. row — a line
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. drill — the tool
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cell — a phone
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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