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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. race — the arms race
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bear — the animal
  7. race — a contest
  8. rush — hurry
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cold — not warm
  11. row — to paddle
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. perch — the fish
  15. row — a line
  16. bear — the animal
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. ball — a dance
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. race — humankind

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