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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. content — happy
  4. rest — what's left
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — a leader
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bass — the fish
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rest — what's left
  16. shower — rain
  17. cap — a lid
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. hand — in cards
  21. content — the amount
  22. bass — low music
  23. rest — a break
  24. cold — not warm

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