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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: stock · spring · file · date · tube · deal · stick · tear

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. tear — to rip
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. date — the fruit
  8. tear — from crying
  9. file — a tool
  10. tube — the underground
  11. tube — a container
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. deal — to handle
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. stock — goods
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stock — shares
  20. file — a document
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. spring — the season
  23. tear — from crying
  24. spring — of water

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