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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. last — finally
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rule — a law
  5. wind — moving air
  6. last — final
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. last — to go on
  9. content — the amount
  10. spell — magic
  11. content — happy
  12. spell — a short time
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — crushed
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — the earth
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. deal — to handle
  19. rule — government
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. wind — moving air
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. spell — letters
  24. deal — a big deal

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