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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. chest — of your body
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. current — of water
  6. degree — temperature
  7. lie — to recline
  8. bat — the animal
  9. deal — to handle
  10. wound — an injury
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. current — happening now
  13. wound — an injury
  14. degree — an amount
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. chest — a box
  18. current — electric
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — from a university

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