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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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. shower — to wash
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bear — the animal
  7. wake — a trail
  8. bulb — for light
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. plane — a tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bear — the animal
  14. rush — hurry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. field — a subject
  17. bulb — for light
  18. shower — rain
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. rush — to hurry

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