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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. court — of a king
  6. court — for sport
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. clip — to cut
  9. deal — to handle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rash — a series
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wind — moving air
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. bark — to shout
  21. clip — a video
  22. court — of law
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. wind — moving air

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