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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. drill — army training
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ball — a great time
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. bulb — for light
  7. drill — a practice
  8. game — a match
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. bass — low music
  15. march — music
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bulb — for light
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. ball — a dance

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