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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. present — there
  4. present — the time now
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. shower — to wash
  8. file — a document
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. present — a gift
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. shower — rain
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. file — a tool
  16. stem — to come from
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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