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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. field — a subject
  4. pass — a permit
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. spring — the season
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bark — to shout
  10. rush — hurry
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — to breed
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mate — a partner
  19. field — farmland
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. field — for sport
  23. mate — a friend
  24. rush — a thrill

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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