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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. chest — of your body
  4. foot — a measure
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. shower — rain
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. date — the fruit
  11. shower — to wash
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. chest — a box
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — in football
  22. deal — to handle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. coach — a trainer

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