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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.

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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. mate — a friend
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — a subject
  8. date — the fruit
  9. mate — a partner
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. field — for sport
  16. mate — to breed
  17. field — farmland
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bound — certain
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — an illness
  24. bound — obliged

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