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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 · deal · land · hand · plane · bark · tear · stick

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. deal — to handle
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. hand — help
  8. land — a country
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. bark — to shout
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. plane — a tool
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. land — to come down
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. tear — from crying
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. deal — a big deal

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