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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. fork — in a road
  8. land — to come down
  9. cell — a phone
  10. land — a country
  11. kid — child
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rush — hurry
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — in music
  16. cell — in biology
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. fall — to drop
  19. deal — to handle
  20. scale — size or range
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. fall — the season

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