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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 116 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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. band — a ring
  3. staff — employees
  4. ball — a great time
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. staff — a stick
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. face — to point toward
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. staff — employees
  12. ball — a dance
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — rain
  15. file — a tool
  16. face — to confront
  17. deal — to handle
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a music group
  20. file — a document
  21. file — a line of people
  22. shower — to wash
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. face — part of the head

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