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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. roll — a list
  4. roll — a cake
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. stand — to bear
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. bear — the animal
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. saw — the tool
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bark — to shout
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. saw — the tool

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