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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: kid · game · drill · deal · date · tear · pitcher · mug

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. date — the fruit
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. kid — child
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mug — a face
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. kid — to tease
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. mug — to rob
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. game — a match
  18. drill — army training
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tear — from crying
  22. drill — a practice
  23. tear — to rip
  24. deal — to handle

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