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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  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 — a big deal
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. march — the month
  4. mate — a partner
  5. shower — to wash
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. hand — help
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. mate — to breed
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mate — a friend
  17. march — music
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. march — the month
  20. hand — in cards
  21. deal — to handle
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. shower — rain
  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