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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cap — a hat
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. staff — a stick
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. staff — employees
  7. land — a country
  8. cap — a lid
  9. kid — child
  10. mine — for digging
  11. land — to come down
  12. foot — a measure
  13. saw — the tool
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. hand — help
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. land — ground
  18. kid — to tease
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. saw — the tool
  21. staff — employees
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. hand — in cards

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