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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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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: deal · pitcher · mug · bat · season · cold · staff · mine

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. staff — employees
  3. mug — a face
  4. mine — for digging
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mug — a cup
  7. staff — a stick
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. season — of the year
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. season — in sport
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. mug — to rob
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. deal — to handle
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mine — belonging to me

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