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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. kid — to tease
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. snap — to click
  8. land — ground
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. branch — a division
  15. land — to come down
  16. scale — size or range
  17. cap — a lid
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. scale — in music
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. kid — child
  24. land — a country

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