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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. pop — soda
  3. bat — the animal
  4. drill — army training
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — in cards
  7. present — the time now
  8. drill — a practice
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cap — a hat
  12. hand — help
  13. drill — the tool
  14. pop — music
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. present — there
  17. present — a gift
  18. spring — the season
  19. rock — music
  20. cap — a lid
  21. spring — of water
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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