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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  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. deal — a big deal
  2. content — happy
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. content — the amount
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. deal — to handle
  7. press — to push
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — for sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. press — newspapers
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. bat — the animal
  16. court — of a king
  17. stem — to come from
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. capital — money
  21. press — a publisher
  22. court — of law
  23. deal — an agreement
  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