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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bat — the animal
  3. file — a document
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. foot — a measure
  10. file — a tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. chest — of your body
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. deal — to handle
  16. kid — child
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chest — a box
  19. chip — for betting
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. file — a line of people
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bat — in an idiom

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