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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. kid — to tease
  4. bat — the animal
  5. band — a music group
  6. snap — to click
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. rash — hasty
  9. band — a ring
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. rule — government
  14. deal — to handle
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. rule — a law
  20. rash — a series
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. kid — child

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