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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. shower — to wash
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fine — all right
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. stand — to bear
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. shower — rain
  14. club — a group
  15. ball — a great time
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. fine — high quality
  21. mine — for digging
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a dance
  24. stand — on your feet

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