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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: wound · hand · bat · date · stick · track · ground · patient

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bat — the animal
  3. track — to keep track
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. hand — help
  6. track — a path
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. ground — crushed
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. track — a song
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. hand — in cards
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. ground — the earth
  20. date — the fruit
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. ground — a position
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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