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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. last — to go on
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. net — in sport
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. last — finally
  9. bear — the animal
  10. spring — of water
  11. ball — a great time
  12. net — after costs
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bound — obliged
  15. net — for catching
  16. bear — the animal
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cell — a phone
  19. spring — a coil
  20. last — final
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bound — tied together
  23. spring — the season
  24. bound — certain

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