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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. land — to come down
  3. snap — to click
  4. race — a contest
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. bear — the animal
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. lean — thin
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. land — a country
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lean — to bend
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. race — humankind
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. race — the arms race
  22. perch — the fish
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. land — ground

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