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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. lean — thin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. deal — to handle
  5. tube — a container
  6. saw — the tool
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hand — help
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lean — to bend
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. charge — electricity
  13. degree — from a university
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hand — in cards
  16. saw — the tool
  17. charge — in control
  18. charge — a price
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. degree — temperature
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. tube — the underground
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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