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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. degree — temperature
  4. shower — to wash
  5. kid — child
  6. capital — money
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. kid — to tease
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. deal — to handle
  11. capital — a city
  12. degree — an amount
  13. degree — from a university
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. date — the fruit
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. bat — the animal
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. shower — rain

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