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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: present · mate · tube · wind · bear · spell · cold · cell

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. tube — a container
  5. bear — the animal
  6. tube — the underground
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spell — letters
  9. cold — an illness
  10. present — the time now
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. spell — magic
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mate — a partner
  15. present — a gift
  16. cell — a phone
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mate — to breed
  19. spell — a short time
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mate — a friend
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bear — 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