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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. game — a match
  8. race — a contest
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. content — happy
  16. race — the arms race
  17. cap — a lid
  18. race — humankind
  19. content — the amount
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cap — of ice
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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