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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. can — to be able to
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. can — a tin
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. cell — in biology
  11. cell — a phone
  12. game — a match
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. row — a line
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — to paddle
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. game — wild animals
  22. can — a tin
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. bear — the animal

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