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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 116 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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. tube — a container
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. tube — the underground
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. race — the arms race
  9. clip — to cut
  10. race — humankind
  11. plane — a tool
  12. kid — child
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. race — a contest
  17. deal — to handle
  18. kid — to tease
  19. clip — a video
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pitcher — a jug

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