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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. drill — the tool
  5. field — for sport
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cap — a lid
  12. drill — army training
  13. court — for sport
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. field — farmland
  17. field — a subject
  18. court — of a king
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. drill — a practice
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cap — of ice
  23. court — of law
  24. racket — for tennis

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