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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. board — a committee
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. tube — the underground
  7. board — to get on
  8. chest — a box
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. chest — of your body
  11. snap — to click
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tube — a container
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. chest — of your body
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fall — to drop
  24. deal — to handle

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