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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — money
  4. cell — in biology
  5. bear — the animal
  6. capital — a city
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — to drill
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. tear — from crying
  22. shower — rain
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bear — the animal

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