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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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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: tear · chair · lash · pitcher · tube · field · cap · snap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. cap — of ice
  3. tear — to rip
  4. field — a subject
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tube — a container
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. field — farmland
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. tube — the underground
  13. chair — a leader
  14. field — for sport
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. tear — from crying
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. snap — to click
  24. cap — a lid

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