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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. last — final
  4. spring — a coil
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. game — a match
  7. march — music
  8. rush — hurry
  9. march — the month
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. last — to go on
  12. spring — of water
  13. last — finally
  14. land — to come down
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. bear — the animal
  18. land — ground
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. pit — in a race
  22. spring — the season
  23. land — a country
  24. march — the month

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