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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. kid — to tease
  3. staff — employees
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. spell — a short time
  6. staff — a stick
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spell — magic
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. press — a publisher
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. kid — child
  18. bear — the animal
  19. press — newspapers
  20. staff — employees
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. press — to push

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