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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — the animal
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. bass — the fish
  7. stand — to bear
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bark — to shout
  11. bat — the animal
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bass — low music
  15. race — a contest
  16. row — to paddle
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cold — an illness
  22. race — humankind
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. cold — the Cold War

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