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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — moving air
  5. can — a tin
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cap — of ice
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — an illness
  11. deal — to handle
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. cap — a hat
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — to be able to
  17. ground — a position
  18. ground — crushed
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. game — a match
  24. ground — the earth

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