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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: fine · bat · hand · band · prune · ball · patient · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. hand — help
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. band — a music group
  8. hand — in cards
  9. deal — to handle
  10. bat — the animal
  11. band — a ring
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. prune — to trim
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. prune — to trim
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. fine — all right

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