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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 116 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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a lid
  3. present — a gift
  4. object — an aim
  5. object — a thing
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. spring — a coil
  9. ground — crushed
  10. object — to protest
  11. ground — the earth
  12. ground — a position
  13. spring — the season
  14. present — there
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. spring — of water
  18. cap — a hat
  19. tube — the underground
  20. present — the time now
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. tube — a container
  24. tube — in a tire

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