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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. pop — soda
  3. spring — of water
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. bat — the animal
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. bear — the animal
  8. land — a country
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — the season
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — to come down
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. land — ground
  21. bear — the animal
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  24. bark — to shout

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