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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: face · cap · drill · spring · ruler · pit · cold · game

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. face — part of the head
  6. face — to point toward
  7. cap — a hat
  8. spring — the season
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. drill — army training
  16. game — a match
  17. cap — of ice
  18. pit — a hole
  19. pit — in a race
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. face — to confront

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