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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spell — letters
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — moving air
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bear — the animal
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bore — to tire
  14. bear — the animal
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bore — to drill
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — magic
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bore — gave birth

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