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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. face — to point toward
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. ground — the earth
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. cap — a lid
  12. capital — a city
  13. perch — the fish
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. face — to confront
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. ground — crushed
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. face — part of the head
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ground — a position
  24. capital — money

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