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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 · bat · mate · racket · file · content · pit · plane

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. mate — a friend
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pit — a hole
  6. file — a document
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mate — a partner
  12. content — happy
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. file — a tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. plane — a tool
  17. mate — to breed
  18. file — a line of people
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. content — the amount

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