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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. fall — to drop
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — an illness
  14. deal — to handle
  15. row — to paddle
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. chip — to eat
  21. sharp — clever
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. track — a path
  24. track — to keep track

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