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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cap — a lid
  6. rest — what's left
  7. deal — to handle
  8. cold — not warm
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. pop — to visit
  11. capital — money
  12. cold — an illness
  13. rest — a break
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rest — what's left
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. cap — of ice
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pop — soda
  22. cap — a hat
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. pop — 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