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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  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. net — for catching
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. row — to paddle
  6. wind — moving air
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bear — the animal
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. rush — hurry
  13. net — after costs
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. row — a line
  18. sharp — clever
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wind — to turn a key
  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