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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. bear — the animal
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cap — of ice
  7. pop — music
  8. kid — child
  9. mate — a partner
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — an amount
  12. mate — a friend
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pop — soda
  15. mate — to breed
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. pop — to visit
  19. degree — from a university
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bear — the animal
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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