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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. track — to keep track
  3. capital — money
  4. fine — all right
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. track — a path
  8. spring — of water
  9. capital — a city
  10. fine — high quality
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. spring — the season
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. deal — to handle
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pop — to visit
  17. scale — size or range
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. spring — a coil
  20. scale — in music
  21. track — a song
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. ruler — for measuring

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