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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cap — of ice
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cap — a lid
  5. object — an aim
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. season — in sport
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. object — to protest
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. season — of the year
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wound — an injury
  15. cap — a hat
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. fork — in a road
  21. object — a thing
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. scale — size or range

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