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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: bat · last · tube · roll · tear · bore · date · mark

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. bat — the animal
  4. tear — from crying
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. last — to go on
  7. bore — to tire
  8. date — the fruit
  9. roll — a cake
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. tube — a container
  15. last — finally
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. tear — from crying
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. mark — a grade
  22. mark — a trace
  23. roll — a list
  24. tube — the underground

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