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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — a lid
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. current — electric
  6. ball — a dance
  7. race — humankind
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. current — happening now
  10. file — a tool
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. stand — to bear
  13. capital — a city
  14. race — a contest
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. file — a document
  18. current — of water
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. capital — money
  22. race — the arms race
  23. file — a line of people
  24. ball — a great time

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