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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: tear · land · stick · cue · bat · pitcher · snap · date

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. bat — the animal
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. land — to come down
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. snap — to click
  15. date — the fruit
  16. tear — from crying
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. cue — for pool
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cue — a hint
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cue — a signal

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