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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 124 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. wind — moving air
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. net — for catching
  6. pop — to visit
  7. row — to paddle
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pit — a hole
  11. net — in sport
  12. capital — a city
  13. pop — music
  14. row — a line
  15. net — after costs
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. deal — to handle
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pop — soda
  24. wind — moving air

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