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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. can — a tin
  3. clip — a video
  4. prune — to trim
  5. present — the time now
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cap — a lid
  9. clip — for paper
  10. hand — in cards
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cap — of ice
  15. present — a gift
  16. wake — a trail
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. prune — to trim
  20. can — a tin
  21. present — there
  22. hand — help
  23. can — to be able to
  24. hand — part of the body

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