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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. saw — the tool
  4. mate — a friend
  5. field — farmland
  6. game — wild animals
  7. field — a subject
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. mate — to breed
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. saw — the tool
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. mate — a partner
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. file — a document
  20. field — for sport
  21. deal — to handle
  22. perch — the fish
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. game — a match

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