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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: bear · fork · cold · ball · bore · band · squash · staff

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. band — a ring
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. cold — not warm
  5. staff — employees
  6. staff — a stick
  7. squash — the sport
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bear — the animal
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. squash — to crush
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — to drill
  17. bear — the animal
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ball — a great time
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. staff — employees
  24. band — a music group

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