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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 120 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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. cap — a hat
  3. file — a tool
  4. key — the most important part
  5. file — a document
  6. cap — of ice
  7. lean — to bend
  8. land — ground
  9. fall — to drop
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cap — a lid
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. land — to come down
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. lean — thin
  17. key — in music
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fall — the season
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. land — a country
  23. dip — to sink
  24. file — a line of people

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