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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. swing — music
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cap — a hat
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. cap — a lid
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. plane — a tool
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. swing — to play on
  13. cell — a phone
  14. march — the month
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. rash — a series
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. swing — in golf
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. rash — hasty
  23. cell — in biology
  24. plane — in geometry

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