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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. deal — to handle
  5. key — the most important part
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bat — the animal
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. key — in music
  11. key — for a lock
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. perch — the fish
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bass — the fish
  24. bass — low music

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