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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bark — to shout
  9. cap — a hat
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cap — a lid
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. chest — of your body
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wind — moving air
  18. track — a path
  19. pass — a permit
  20. spring — a coil
  21. track — a song
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chest — a box
  24. wind — to turn a key

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