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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. court — of law
  4. cold — an illness
  5. court — for sport
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bear — the animal
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mug — a face
  12. game — wild animals
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. court — of a king
  16. mug — a cup
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. mug — to rob
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. saw — the tool
  24. game — a match

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