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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. scale — in music
  3. pop — soda
  4. lean — thin
  5. court — for sport
  6. spring — of water
  7. lean — to bend
  8. court — of law
  9. bear — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — a contest
  15. spring — the season
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. court — of a king
  20. pop — music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. race — humankind
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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