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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. cap — of ice
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. perch — the fish
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. file — a tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. file — a document
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. spell — a short time
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. spell — letters
  21. cap — a lid
  22. file — a line of people
  23. spell — magic
  24. wound — an injury

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