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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: net · fan · deal · bat · clip · lean · date · mark

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. clip — for paper
  3. net — after costs
  4. mark — a trace
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. lean — to bend
  12. net — in sport
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — a video
  17. lean — thin
  18. date — the fruit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mark — a grade
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. net — for catching
  23. deal — to handle
  24. date — on the calendar

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