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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 116 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: row · trunk · spring · cap · pop · face · chip · hand

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. face — to point toward
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. hand — help
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. face — part of the head
  8. chip — for betting
  9. spring — a coil
  10. pop — soda
  11. row — a line
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chip — to eat
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pop — music
  16. spring — of water
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. hand — in cards
  21. face — to confront
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. spring — the season
  24. row — to paddle

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