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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. cap — of ice
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. kid — to tease
  6. hand — help
  7. cue — a signal
  8. tear — to rip
  9. bark — to shout
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pound — a weight
  14. kid — child
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lie — to recline
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cue — a hint
  22. cap — a lid
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cue — for pool

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