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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. content — happy
  3. land — ground
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. bore — to drill
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. bore — to tire
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. spell — letters
  13. cap — a lid
  14. spell — a short time
  15. cap — of ice
  16. spell — magic
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fork — in a road
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. land — a country
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. land — to come down

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