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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. field — farmland
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. field — a subject
  5. mug — a cup
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. ball — a dance
  9. field — for sport
  10. mug — to rob
  11. march — music
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. squash — to crush
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — the month
  16. ball — a great time
  17. squash — the sport
  18. tube — the underground
  19. deal — to handle
  20. tube — a container
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. march — the month
  23. cell — in biology
  24. mug — a face

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