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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — to handle
  3. rest — a break
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. shower — to wash
  7. squash — the sport
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. roll — a list
  10. shower — rain
  11. roll — a cake
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. fork — in a road
  17. squash — to crush
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cold — not warm

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