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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: hide · tear · pit · bear · game · rock · cold · content

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bear — the animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — to rip
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. rock — a stone
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pit — in a race
  16. content — happy
  17. game — a match
  18. content — the amount
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pit — a hole
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. rock — music
  24. hide — to keep secret

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