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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 water is too ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem 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. cold — not warm
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. race — humankind
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — an illness
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. shower — to wash
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. shower — rain
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. foot — a measure
  24. deal — to handle

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