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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · bark · lean · cold · object · date · court · saw

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. object — a thing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. court — for sport
  10. deal — to handle
  11. lean — thin
  12. lean — to bend
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. object — an aim
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. saw — the tool
  21. bark — to shout
  22. object — to protest
  23. saw — the tool
  24. court — of a king

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