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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 116 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 want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. tube — a container
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. spring — of water
  5. bat — the animal
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. rash — hasty
  12. spring — the season
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rash — a series
  16. ball — a dance
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. spring — a coil
  21. tube — the underground
  22. deal — to handle
  23. sharp — clever
  24. chair — a leader

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