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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. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. bore — to drill
  4. race — the arms race
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — to tire
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. band — a ring
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. stock — shares
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. pop — music
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. band — a music group
  16. clip — a video
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest
  19. deal — to handle
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stock — goods
  24. clip — for paper

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