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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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 — a big deal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. clip — a video
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. scale — in music
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pit — a hole
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. tube — the underground
  20. pit — in a race
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. rest — a break
  23. tube — a container
  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