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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. spell — a short time
  3. spell — letters
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. kid — child
  7. lean — thin
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chest — of your body
  11. spell — magic
  12. kid — to tease
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. lean — to bend
  16. chest — a box
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bear — the animal

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