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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. key — for a lock
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bear — the animal
  9. key — in music
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. bear — the animal
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pop — music
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pop — to visit
  18. perch — the fish
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. key — the most important part
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. sharp — clever
  23. kick — in football
  24. tear — to rip

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