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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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. wind — to turn a key
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a match
  8. wind — moving air
  9. roll — a list
  10. bass — the fish
  11. roll — a cake
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. game — wild animals
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cap — of ice
  17. hand — in cards
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. cap — a lid
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bass — low music
  24. roll — on a roll

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