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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tube · bat · deal · arm · scale · cold · season · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tube — the underground
  4. season — in sport
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. season — of the year
  7. scale — in music
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. game — wild animals
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tube — a container
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. deal — to handle
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. cold — an illness

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