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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · cold · date · bat · pop · cap · perch · key

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cap — a hat
  5. cap — of ice
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. pop — music
  8. pound — a weight
  9. key — in music
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bat — the animal
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. perch — the fish
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pop — to visit
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. date — the fruit
  23. cold — an illness
  24. key — for a lock

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