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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. bass — low music
  5. tear — from crying
  6. deal — to handle
  7. board — to get on
  8. bass — the fish
  9. tear — to rip
  10. field — for sport
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. board — a committee
  13. tear — from crying
  14. face — to point toward
  15. drill — a practice
  16. field — farmland
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. field — a subject
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. face — to confront
  24. face — part of the head

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