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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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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: mate · bat · racket · kid · game · file · deal · temple

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. mate — a partner
  4. file — a line of people
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. bat — the animal
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. game — a match
  10. kid — to tease
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. file — a tool
  14. mate — a friend
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. file — a document
  19. deal — to handle
  20. kid — child
  21. mate — to breed
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. game — wild animals

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