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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. tear — from crying
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. land — a country
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cell — a phone
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. rash — hasty
  14. land — ground
  15. rash — a series
  16. cell — in biology
  17. snap — to click
  18. tear — to rip

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