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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bear — the animal
  3. mine — for digging
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — moving air
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. spring — a coil
  10. craft — boats
  11. kid — child
  12. spring — the season
  13. degree — from a university
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. degree — temperature
  17. bear — the animal
  18. degree — an amount
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. kid — to tease
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wind — to turn a key

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