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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. prune — to trim
  3. pop — to visit
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — wild animals
  7. firm — steady
  8. bat — the animal
  9. pop — music
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. prune — to trim
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — a match
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pop — soda
  17. firm — decided
  18. firm — a company
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. scale — size or range
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. deal — to handle

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