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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 · mine · mate · jam · pound · hide · bat · game

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. game — a match
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. mate — a friend
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. mate — to breed
  21. mine — for digging
  22. game — wild animals
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. deal — to handle

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