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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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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: present · plane · can · cap · ball · cold · roll · row

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. roll — a cake
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. can — a tin
  5. cap — a lid
  6. roll — a list
  7. ball — a great time
  8. present — a gift
  9. cold — not warm
  10. can — a tin
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. present — there
  13. cap — of ice
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a line
  17. present — the time now
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. ball — a dance
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cold — an illness

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