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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cap — a hat
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. field — farmland
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — for sport
  17. dip — to sink
  18. cap — of ice
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — a subject
  24. cap — a lid

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