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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. swing — in golf
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bear — the animal
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. face — to point toward
  9. present — the time now
  10. spring — of water
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — music
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. bear — the animal
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. face — to confront
  18. pound — a weight
  19. present — there
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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