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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. track — a song
  4. firm — decided
  5. cold — an illness
  6. charge — in control
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. field — for sport
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. firm — a company
  11. track — a path
  12. hand — help
  13. charge — a price
  14. firm — steady
  15. hand — in cards
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cold — not warm
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — farmland
  21. deal — to handle
  22. charge — electricity
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cold — the Cold War

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