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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. hand — help
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cap — a lid
  5. chest — a box
  6. squash — to crush
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. fall — to drop
  9. snap — to click
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cap — of ice
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fall — the season
  17. hand — in cards
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cap — a hat
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bear — the animal

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