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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Did you ________________ the button?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. capital — a city
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. prune — to trim
  5. last — final
  6. deal — to handle
  7. press — a publisher
  8. mug — a cup
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. prune — to trim
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. clip — for paper
  14. last — finally
  15. last — to go on
  16. press — newspapers
  17. capital — money
  18. clip — to cut
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. press — to push
  21. mug — to rob
  22. clip — a video
  23. mug — a face
  24. prune — the fruit

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