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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rush — hurry
  6. race — humankind
  7. bear — the animal
  8. fall — to drop
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. prune — to trim
  13. scale — in music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. prune — to trim
  17. fall — the season
  18. race — the arms race
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. scale — size or range
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. race — a contest

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