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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. track — to keep track
  3. lean — thin
  4. track — a song
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bear — the animal
  8. spell — magic
  9. bear — the animal
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. spell — a short time
  13. chip — for betting
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cold — an illness
  19. track — a path
  20. lean — to bend
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — animal skin

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