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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. bat — the animal
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. current — happening now
  6. ball — a great time
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a dance
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bear — the animal
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. current — electric
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pass — a permit
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cold — an illness
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. current — of water

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