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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
468
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 · pitcher · spring · arm · staff · bay · cold · cap

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. staff — employees
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. staff — employees
  8. spring — of water
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. staff — a stick
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cap — a lid
  18. face — to confront
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to point toward
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. cap — of ice

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