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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. chair — a leader
  5. deal — to handle
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. band — a music group
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. court — for sport
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. band — a ring
  17. court — of a king
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. date — the fruit
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. court — of law
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bat — the animal

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