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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 120 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. chip — to eat
  3. rash — a series
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ground — the earth
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. bark — to shout
  11. race — the arms race
  12. cap — of ice
  13. cap — a lid
  14. chip — for betting
  15. pop — to visit
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rash — hasty
  18. pop — soda
  19. race — humankind
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. pop — music
  22. ground — a position
  23. shower — rain
  24. race — a contest

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