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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. game — a match
  5. cap — a hat
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. ground — a position
  10. date — the fruit
  11. game — wild animals
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. ground — crushed
  15. wake — a trail
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. ground — the earth
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. date — on the calendar

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