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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. land — to come down
  3. deal — to handle
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. land — ground
  6. spell — a short time
  7. can — a tin
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. court — of law
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. can — a tin
  13. degree — an amount
  14. court — for sport
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. spell — letters
  17. rush — hurry
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. degree — from a university
  20. court — of a king
  21. land — a country
  22. spell — magic
  23. can — to be able to
  24. degree — temperature

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