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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. last — final
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. land — to come down
  6. last — finally
  7. bore — to drill
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. land — ground
  10. pop — soda
  11. fall — to drop
  12. deal — to handle
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. pop — to visit
  15. fall — to drop
  16. can — to be able to
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pop — music
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fall — the season
  23. bore — to tire
  24. cold — not warm

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