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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. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. ground — the earth
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. lie — to recline
  7. deal — to handle
  8. band — a music group
  9. court — of a king
  10. spring — of water
  11. court — of law
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cap — a lid
  14. ground — crushed
  15. band — a ring
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. ground — a position
  22. court — for sport
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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