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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 120 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. band — a music group
  3. hand — in cards
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. bulb — for light
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. track — to keep track
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bear — the animal
  16. row — a line
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. track — a song
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. track — a path
  21. bulb — for light
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — a quarrel

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