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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. row — a line
  3. game — a match
  4. game — wild animals
  5. pop — music
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. pop — soda
  8. chest — a box
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pop — to visit
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. deal — to handle
  13. chest — of your body
  14. row — to paddle
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pit — a hole
  18. tear — to rip
  19. pit — in a race
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. tear — from crying
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. tear — from crying
  24. chest — of your body

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