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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — to handle
  3. prune — to trim
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bore — to tire
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. march — the month
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rule — government
  12. prune — to trim
  13. march — music
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to click
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to drill
  21. march — the month
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. bat — for baseball

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