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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. key — the most important part
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rash — a series
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. drill — army training
  9. capital — a city
  10. key — in music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. kid — child
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — money
  16. drill — a practice
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rash — hasty
  23. drill — the tool
  24. tear — from crying

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