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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 kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. last — to go on
  5. shower — rain
  6. lie — to recline
  7. last — finally
  8. tube — a container
  9. last — final
  10. scale — size or range
  11. bat — the animal
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. tube — the underground
  14. scale — in music
  15. deal — to handle
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. shower — to wash
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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