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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kid — child
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. fall — the season
  8. staff — employees
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. toast — bread
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — for paper
  15. foot — a measure
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. staff — a stick
  18. deal — to handle
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — to tease
  24. fall — to drop

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