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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bear — the animal
  3. squash — the sport
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. content — happy
  11. mine — for digging
  12. kid — to tease
  13. content — the amount
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hand — in cards
  20. kid — child
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. chair — a leader
  23. squash — to crush
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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