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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. pop — to visit
  8. mine — for digging
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pop — soda
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pop — music
  15. degree — temperature
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cap — a lid
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cap — of ice
  21. game — a match
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. plane — a tool

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