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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: field · capital · bat · wound · deal · date · object · roll

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. object — an aim
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bat — the animal
  5. object — to protest
  6. field — farmland
  7. roll — a list
  8. field — a subject
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. wound — an injury
  12. field — for sport
  13. roll — a cake
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. date — the fruit
  16. capital — money
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wound — an injury
  19. object — a thing
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. bat — for baseball

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