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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. hand — help
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. land — to come down
  8. bound — obliged
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. land — ground
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — a group
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. club — for dancing
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cap — of ice
  23. bound — certain
  24. hand — in cards

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