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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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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bear — the animal
  4. kid — child
  5. present — there
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. press — newspapers
  9. present — the time now
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. present — a gift
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. press — a publisher
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. press — to push
  18. bat — 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