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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. clip — to cut
  4. land — ground
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. key — in music
  11. tube — a container
  12. key — for a lock
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. deal — to handle
  18. clip — a video
  19. key — the most important part
  20. land — to come down
  21. tube — the underground
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. sharp — clever
  24. land — a country

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