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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. pop — to visit
  5. pop — soda
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. roll — a list
  17. roll — a cake
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. saw — the tool
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — the animal

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