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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · bat · date · board · tear · march · tube · deal

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. game — wild animals
  3. tear — to rip
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. march — the month
  7. date — the fruit
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. march — music
  11. tube — the underground
  12. board — a committee
  13. bat — the animal
  14. game — a match
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. tube — a container
  20. deal — to handle
  21. board — to get on
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. march — the month
  24. tube — in a tire

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