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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. rule — government
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. deal — to handle
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — humankind
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rule — a law
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a match
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wake — a trail
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. race — a contest
  24. fan — to cool the air

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