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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 120 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. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. press — a publisher
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. fine — all right
  6. cell — a phone
  7. deal — to handle
  8. craft — boats
  9. net — for catching
  10. march — music
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cell — in biology
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. craft — a skill
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. press — to push
  17. fine — high quality
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. wake — a trail
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. press — newspapers
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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