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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. track — a song
  3. fall — to drop
  4. hand — in cards
  5. saw — the tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. capital — a city
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. capital — money
  11. saw — the tool
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. fall — the season
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. fall — to drop
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a lid
  24. hand — help

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