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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: tear · squash · cap · key · pitcher · net · cold · stock

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cap — a lid
  5. key — for a lock
  6. cap — of ice
  7. tear — to rip
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — goods
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — an illness
  15. tear — from crying
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. squash — the sport
  18. net — in sport
  19. key — in music
  20. net — for catching
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. net — after costs
  24. key — the most important part

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