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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 · season · mate · content · last · hand · race · object

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. hand — help
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — a friend
  5. last — finally
  6. hand — in cards
  7. last — final
  8. object — a thing
  9. race — humankind
  10. content — happy
  11. last — to go on
  12. object — an aim
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. deal — to handle
  15. race — the arms race
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. season — of the year
  19. race — a contest
  20. mate — to breed
  21. season — in sport
  22. object — to protest
  23. content — the amount
  24. deal — a big deal

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