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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. march — the month
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. march — the month
  9. court — of law
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. fork — in a road
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bear — the animal
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. kick — in football
  23. march — music
  24. chest — a box

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