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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bear — the animal
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — low music
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. kid — to tease
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bear — the animal
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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