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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. net — in sport
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. tube — a container
  7. firm — steady
  8. net — for catching
  9. bear — the animal
  10. fall — to drop
  11. firm — a company
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bear — the animal
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. net — after costs
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. fall — the season
  18. firm — decided
  19. fall — to drop
  20. tube — the underground
  21. kick — in football
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. cold — the Cold War

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