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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 120 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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wound — an injury
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. stock — shares
  7. stock — goods
  8. clip — a video
  9. land — ground
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — rain
  12. cap — of ice
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wound — an injury
  16. cap — a lid
  17. lie — to recline
  18. deal — to handle
  19. cap — a hat
  20. clip — for paper
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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