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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — in cards
  4. kid — to tease
  5. ground — the earth
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. deal — to handle
  10. capital — money
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. root — of a plant
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. object — a thing
  16. kid — child
  17. root — of a word
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. object — an aim
  20. object — to protest
  21. ground — crushed
  22. hand — help
  23. root — the cause
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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