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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. shower — to wash
  5. march — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. craft — boats
  12. bulb — for light
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. deal — to handle
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — for light
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. craft — a skill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. clip — for paper

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