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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. deal — to handle
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. court — of a king
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — temperature
  14. tear — from crying
  15. degree — an amount
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. degree — from a university
  19. stem — to come from
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stem — a stem cell

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