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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. pop — soda
  3. drill — a practice
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pop — to visit
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — the animal
  9. present — a gift
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cold — not warm
  13. snap — to click
  14. present — there
  15. branch — a division
  16. present — the time now
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — the underground
  19. tube — a container
  20. drill — the tool
  21. pop — music
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. drill — army training
  24. tube — in a tire

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