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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. can — a tin
  3. capital — money
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — a face
  7. can — to be able to
  8. mug — to rob
  9. cap — of ice
  10. can — a tin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. tear — to rip
  15. mug — a cup
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — the animal
  18. clip — a video
  19. cap — a lid
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. clip — for paper

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