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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pound — a weight
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wind — moving air
  9. perch — the fish
  10. kid — child
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. bat — the animal
  20. vault — a safe
  21. kid — to tease
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cap — a lid

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