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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. game — wild animals
  4. court — for sport
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. pop — soda
  10. pop — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. hand — help
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. cold — an illness
  17. game — a match
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. deal — to handle
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bat — for baseball

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