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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. present — the time now
  8. content — happy
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. present — a gift
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — the amount
  13. band — a ring
  14. rush — hurry
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. present — there
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bear — the animal
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bear — the animal
  24. mine — for digging

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