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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cold — an illness
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cap — a lid
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. plane — a tool
  12. foot — a measure
  13. fall — the season
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. fall — to drop
  18. court — of law
  19. toast — bread
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cap — of ice

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