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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. bear — the animal
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. tube — a container
  6. cold — not warm
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. tear — from crying
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ball — a dance
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. chip — to eat
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. bear — to put up with

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