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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. land — to come down
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. vault — a safe
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. tube — a container
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. spring — a coil
  11. land — a country
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. deal — to handle
  14. court — for sport
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. tube — the underground
  17. land — ground
  18. court — of law
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. spring — the season
  21. wake — a trail
  22. court — of a king
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. spring — of water

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