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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 124 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. game — wild animals
  3. present — a gift
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. hand — help
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. present — there
  9. file — a tool
  10. bass — the fish
  11. file — a line of people
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. bass — low music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. file — a document
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. game — a match
  22. present — the time now
  23. hand — in cards
  24. nail — on a finger

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