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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. present — there
  10. pop — soda
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bass — the fish
  14. pop — music
  15. bass — low music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. present — the time now
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bear — the animal
  22. present — a gift
  23. stem — to come from
  24. squash — to crush

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