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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. ground — the earth
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bat — the animal
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. plane — a tool
  8. cap — a hat
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. ground — a position
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. present — the time now
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. sharp — clever
  21. present — there
  22. present — a gift
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. ground — crushed

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