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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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 · calf · scale · land · spring · spell · cold · rash

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rash — hasty
  6. cap — of ice
  7. spell — magic
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. land — a country
  11. spring — the season
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. spell — letters
  14. scale — size or range
  15. rash — a series
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. land — ground
  18. spring — a coil
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. land — to come down
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. spring — of water
  24. scale — in music

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