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

Word bank: date · rest · tear · deal · bat · file

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. bat — the animal
  4. deal — to handle
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. tear — from crying
  8. file — a tool
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. rest — a break
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. date — the fruit
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. tear — to rip
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. file — a line of people
  18. rest — what's left

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