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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 124 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. tear — to rip
  3. chair — a leader
  4. file — a line of people
  5. bear — the animal
  6. band — a music group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. bear — the animal
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. tear — from crying
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. rule — a law
  20. rule — government
  21. rush — hurry
  22. band — a ring
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. file — a tool

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