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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cap — a lid
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. file — a tool
  8. cap — of ice
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. file — a line of people
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — a match
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of a car

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