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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 116 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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. root — of a word
  6. mine — for digging
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. shower — rain
  10. bear — the animal
  11. rush — hurry
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. hand — in cards
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a plant
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. hand — help
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. shower — to wash
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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