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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. land — ground
  5. land — a country
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. hand — in cards
  8. file — a document
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. scale — size or range
  12. scale — in music
  13. race — humankind
  14. file — a tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — help
  19. sharp — clever
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. race — the arms race
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. land — to come down
  24. file — a line of people

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