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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 120 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 who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cue — a signal
  5. clip — to cut
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. cue — a hint
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitch — completely
  13. fall — the season
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. cue — for pool
  16. fall — to drop
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. deal — to handle
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — goods
  24. cell — in biology

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