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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. mine — for digging
  4. object — an aim
  5. wind — moving air
  6. game — a match
  7. object — a thing
  8. cell — a phone
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. spell — magic
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. game — wild animals
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. spell — letters
  17. object — to protest
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cell — in biology
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — a short time
  24. mine — an explosive

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