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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. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. content — the amount
  3. file — a tool
  4. spell — magic
  5. bear — the animal
  6. kid — to tease
  7. spell — letters
  8. bear — the animal
  9. file — a line of people
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. deal — to handle
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. shower — rain
  18. content — happy
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. spell — a short time
  22. file — a document
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. kid — child

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