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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. spring — the season
  3. spring — a coil
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. present — there
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. prune — to trim
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. prune — to trim
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — the time now
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. chip — for betting
  15. plane — a tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spring — of water
  18. degree — from a university
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chip — to eat
  21. bear — the animal
  22. degree — temperature
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. degree — an amount

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