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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rest · cold · chip · spring · straw · wind · stand · bear

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stand — to bear
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spring — the season
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. rest — a break
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. spring — of water
  11. chip — for betting
  12. rest — what's left
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. spring — a coil
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bear — the animal
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. cold — not warm
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. wind — to turn a key

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