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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. club — for golf
  3. tear — to rip
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. saw — the tool
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. club — for dancing
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — an illness
  15. can — to be able to
  16. can — a tin
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bear — the animal
  21. can — a tin
  22. club — a group
  23. chair — a leader
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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