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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. file — a tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cap — a lid
  6. mark — a grade
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. march — music
  9. cap — of ice
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. march — the month
  12. file — a line of people
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. drill — the tool
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. wound — an injury
  18. drill — army training
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. mark — a trace
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. file — a document
  24. racket — for tennis

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