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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: pitcher · chair · cell · roll · stick · cap · bear · tear

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. roll — a list
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. cap — a lid
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — of ice
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bear — the animal
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cap — a hat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. chair — a leader
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. cell — a phone
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cell — in biology
  23. tear — to rip
  24. chair — to sit on

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