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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. net — for catching
  5. bass — low music
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. file — a tool
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. field — farmland
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. kick — in football
  17. file — a line of people
  18. net — after costs
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wake — a trail
  23. file — a document
  24. net — in sport

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