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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. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — to attach or keep to
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. rule — a law
  4. deal — to handle
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — in music
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rule — government
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. file — a document
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a tool

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