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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 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. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. ball — a dance
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. file — a tool
  5. bark — to shout
  6. land — a country
  7. scale — in music
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. land — to come down
  10. scale — size or range
  11. land — ground
  12. track — a path
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. track — a song
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. ball — a great time
  19. deal — to handle
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a document
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. track — to keep track

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