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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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. chest — a box
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. cold — not warm
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. cold — an illness
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. chest — of your body
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. branch — a division
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bark — to shout
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. chest — of your body

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