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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. suit — to fit
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. suit — clothes
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bat — the animal
  12. court — of a king
  13. suit — in cards
  14. wind — moving air
  15. court — for sport
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mine — for digging
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. court — of law
  24. bat — in an idiom

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