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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. track — a path
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cold — an illness
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. chip — to eat
  11. file — a tool
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — to keep track
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a song
  22. file — a document
  23. chip — for betting
  24. row — a quarrel

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