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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. land — ground
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. rock — a stone
  6. rock — music
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. land — a country
  10. degree — from a university
  11. present — there
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. face — to point toward
  14. cell — a phone
  15. face — to confront
  16. present — the time now
  17. degree — an amount
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cell — in biology
  21. land — to come down
  22. face — part of the head
  23. bear — the animal
  24. present — a gift

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