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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  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 — an agreement
  2. drill — army training
  3. chest — a box
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. ball — a dance
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. chest — of your body
  11. drill — a practice
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. chest — of your body
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. ball — a great time
  20. wind — moving air
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. drill — the tool
  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