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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. land — a country
  3. cap — of ice
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. last — final
  7. bulb — for light
  8. land — ground
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bound — certain
  11. present — there
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bound — tied together
  15. row — a line
  16. cap — a hat
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. present — a gift
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. present — the time now
  21. row — to paddle
  22. last — to go on
  23. land — to come down
  24. last — finally

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