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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. branch — a division
  3. last — to go on
  4. season — in sport
  5. content — happy
  6. ground — crushed
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cap — of ice
  9. ground — a position
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cap — a lid
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. ground — the earth

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