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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 · snap · tear · bear · field · calf · tube · straw

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. rest — a break
  5. bear — the animal
  6. field — for sport
  7. bear — the animal
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. tear — from crying
  10. field — farmland
  11. tube — the underground
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — from crying
  14. field — a subject
  15. rest — what's left
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rest — what's left
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. straw — dry grass

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