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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. wound — an injury
  3. game — a match
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. suit — in cards
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. clip — to cut
  14. suit — clothes
  15. capital — money
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. suit — to fit
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bear — the animal

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