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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. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. vault — a safe
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cap — of ice
  9. tube — the underground
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rash — a series
  17. tube — a container
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rash — hasty
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spell — letters
  22. spell — magic
  23. cap — a lid
  24. cold — an illness

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