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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. land — to come down
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. march — the month
  7. fork — in a road
  8. current — happening now
  9. tube — the underground
  10. current — electric
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tube — a container
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. march — music
  17. cap — a lid
  18. tear — to rip
  19. march — the month
  20. current — of water
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. land — ground
  23. land — a country
  24. cap — a hat

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