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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 120 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: bat · deal · saw · tear · stock · field · board · face

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. stock — shares
  3. deal — to handle
  4. face — part of the head
  5. saw — the tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stock — goods
  8. board — a committee
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. tear — from crying
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. face — to point toward
  15. bat — the animal
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. saw — the tool
  18. face — to confront
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. board — to get on
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. field — for sport

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