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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pass — a permit
  4. spell — magic
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. mine — for digging
  11. deal — to handle
  12. wind — moving air
  13. game — wild animals
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. pop — soda
  17. spell — a short time
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. capital — a city
  21. game — a match
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. spell — letters
  24. capital — money

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