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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 hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. cap — of ice
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cap — a hat
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chest — of your body
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. capital — money
  12. chest — a box
  13. staff — employees
  14. cold — an illness
  15. staff — a stick
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cap — a lid
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. row — a line
  22. capital — a city
  23. cold — not warm
  24. row — to paddle

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