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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. key — in music
  6. field — for sport
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. hand — in cards
  10. field — farmland
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to click
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. field — a subject
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. key — the most important part
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. key — for a lock
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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