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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. drill — army training
  5. fall — to drop
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. swing — to play on
  9. shower — rain
  10. hand — help
  11. chair — a leader
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. fall — to drop
  16. clip — a video
  17. deal — to handle
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. swing — in golf
  20. hand — in cards
  21. fall — the season
  22. swing — music
  23. clip — to cut
  24. deal — an agreement

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