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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. row — to paddle
  7. spring — the season
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spring — a coil
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. cap — of ice
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. snap — to click
  19. bear — the animal
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. spring — of water
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. wind — moving air

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