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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. face — to confront
  3. face — part of the head
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. tear — from crying
  6. clip — a video
  7. tear — to rip
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. mine — for digging
  11. scale — size or range
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bore — to drill
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. scale — in music
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. cap — a lid
  19. bore — to tire
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kick — in football
  22. clip — for paper
  23. face — to point toward
  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