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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. tube — the underground
  3. mark — a grade
  4. land — a country
  5. pop — soda
  6. mark — a trace
  7. pop — to visit
  8. face — to confront
  9. land — ground
  10. spell — magic
  11. land — to come down
  12. rash — a series
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. rash — hasty
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. deal — to handle
  19. face — part of the head
  20. pop — music
  21. spell — letters
  22. tube — a container
  23. face — to point toward
  24. spell — a short time

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