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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. fork — in a road
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chest — of your body
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. spring — the season
  11. chest — a box
  12. spring — a coil
  13. roll — a list
  14. prune — to trim
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. spring — of water
  19. tear — to rip
  20. roll — a cake
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. bear — the animal
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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