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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. wound — an injury
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. spell — magic
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. spell — letters
  14. cap — of ice
  15. wound — an injury
  16. spell — a short time
  17. rest — a break
  18. kid — child
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a music group
  21. kid — to tease
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. plane — a tool

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