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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 120 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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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: tear · bat · tube · pop · spell · face · deal · drill

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. bat — the animal
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. pop — soda
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. spell — magic
  9. tube — a container
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — letters
  15. face — part of the head
  16. spell — a short time
  17. face — to confront
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tear — to rip
  20. pop — to visit
  21. tear — from crying
  22. deal — to handle
  23. pop — music
  24. tear — from crying

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