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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: mate · deal · march · cold · tear · patient · bat · mine

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. bat — the animal
  6. tear — to rip
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. mate — a partner
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mate — to breed
  13. deal — to handle
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mate — a friend
  19. march — music
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mine — for digging

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