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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 · racket · bark · hand · row · date · snap · march

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. snap — to click
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. row — to paddle
  9. march — the month
  10. row — a line
  11. march — music
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. march — the month
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. date — the fruit
  19. deal — to handle
  20. hand — help
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. hand — in cards
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. hand — part of the body

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