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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: bat · cap · march · game · plane · bass · tear · deal

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. march — the month
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. tear — from crying
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — the animal
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. game — wild animals
  9. cap — a hat
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. cap — a lid
  13. game — a match
  14. cap — of ice
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — low music
  17. march — music
  18. plane — a tool
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bass — the fish
  22. deal — to handle
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. tear — to rip

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