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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. spring — the season
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spell — a short time
  5. content — happy
  6. spring — of water
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — not warm
  12. spell — letters
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cold — an illness
  16. date — the fruit
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. content — the amount
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. spell — magic
  21. cap — a lid
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cap — of ice
  24. plane — a tool

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