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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. plane — a tool
  3. shower — rain
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. root — of a word
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. club — for golf
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. root — the cause
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. club — a group
  15. club — for dancing
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bark — to shout
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cold — an illness
  21. deal — to handle
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. branch — a division
  24. shower — to wash

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