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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. wake — a trail
  4. craft — boats
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chip — to eat
  7. craft — a handicraft
  8. game — wild animals
  9. deal — to handle
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. mine — for digging
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. game — a match
  14. chip — for betting
  15. craft — a skill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. date — the fruit
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. date — on the calendar

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