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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — a position
  8. spring — of water
  9. rock — a stone
  10. scale — in music
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. present — the time now
  14. deal — to handle
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. cold — not warm
  17. ground — the earth
  18. rock — music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. present — a gift
  22. ground — crushed
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. scale — size or range

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