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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. track — a path
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. track — a song
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. date — the fruit
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wind — moving air
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wind — moving air
  24. snap — to click

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