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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 · stock · bat · face · wake · chest · tube · mark

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. tube — a container
  5. chest — of your body
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. mark — a trace
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bat — the animal
  14. stock — shares
  15. face — to point toward
  16. chest — a box
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wake — a trail
  19. face — to confront
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. chest — of your body
  24. deal — an agreement

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