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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 120 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: cap · ground · chest · file · prune · staff · pound · cell

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pound — a weight
  3. chest — of your body
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. staff — employees
  6. ground — the earth
  7. cell — a phone
  8. staff — a stick
  9. cap — of ice
  10. ground — crushed
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chest — of your body
  14. file — a tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ground — a position
  18. file — a document
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. staff — employees

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