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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. When was this ________________ built?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. mine — for digging
  4. deal — to handle
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. pass — a permit
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. hand — help
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. ball — a dance
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. saw — the tool
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. saw — the tool
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. hand — in cards
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. shower — rain
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. shower — to wash
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. ball — a great time
  24. ball — a round shape

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