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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. tear — to rip
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. degree — an amount
  7. bear — the animal
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — from crying
  10. shower — rain
  11. degree — temperature
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. root — of a plant
  14. root — of a word
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. stand — to bear
  20. root — the cause
  21. tear — from crying
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. degree — from a university

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