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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: deal · club · bat · present · patient · file · roll · rock

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. club — for golf
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. deal — to handle
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. roll — a cake
  10. present — the time now
  11. club — a group
  12. roll — a list
  13. rock — music
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. present — a gift
  17. club — for dancing
  18. rock — a stone
  19. file — a tool
  20. present — there
  21. file — a document
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. file — a line of people

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