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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. staff — employees
  3. content — happy
  4. bear — the animal
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. staff — employees
  9. cap — a lid
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. staff — a stick
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bear — the animal
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. content — the amount
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. scale — in music
  23. scale — size or range
  24. straw — a straw man

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