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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. bark — to shout
  4. capital — money
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. last — finally
  8. degree — from a university
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — an amount
  11. last — final
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. degree — temperature
  16. capital — a city
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. last — to go 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