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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.

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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. swing — to play on
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. swing — in golf
  6. spring — a coil
  7. net — in sport
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. spell — a short time
  11. hand — in cards
  12. net — after costs
  13. deal — to handle
  14. spell — letters
  15. net — for catching
  16. swing — music
  17. spell — magic
  18. hand — help

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