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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. stand — to bear
  7. bear — the animal
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. game — a match
  13. content — the amount
  14. net — for catching
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. cold — not warm
  18. content — happy
  19. bear — the animal
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. cold — an illness
  24. content — videos and posts

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