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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. drill — a practice
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. mine — for digging
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — of ice
  7. game — a match
  8. band — a music group
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. scale — size or range
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. drill — army training
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. band — a ring
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. drill — the tool
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. scale — in music
  20. cap — a lid
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. mine — belonging to me

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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