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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 120 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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — a subject
  5. court — of a king
  6. cap — of ice
  7. field — for sport
  8. court — of law
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. club — for golf
  12. clip — a video
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. club — for dancing
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. clip — to cut
  19. club — a group
  20. shower — rain
  21. court — for sport
  22. cap — a lid
  23. clip — for paper
  24. land — to come down

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