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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bass — low music
  3. bass — the fish
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. root — of a word
  9. row — to paddle
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. root — the cause
  12. rest — what's left
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. rest — a break
  16. hand — in cards
  17. deal — to handle
  18. hand — help
  19. shower — rain
  20. net — after costs
  21. root — of a plant
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. row — a line
  24. rest — what's left

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