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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bore — to tire
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. band — a ring
  6. cold — not warm
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. field — farmland
  9. band — a music group
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rash — a series
  13. cold — an illness
  14. field — a subject
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. tear — to rip
  19. rash — hasty
  20. field — for sport
  21. tear — from crying
  22. content — the amount
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — happy

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