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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. staff — employees
  3. roll — a list
  4. cap — a lid
  5. object — an aim
  6. board — a committee
  7. saw — the tool
  8. object — to protest
  9. cell — a phone
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. object — a thing
  12. roll — a cake
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. staff — a stick
  15. cap — of ice
  16. saw — the tool
  17. staff — employees
  18. board — to get on
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. cell — in biology
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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