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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. hand — help
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. squash — to crush
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bat — the animal
  10. board — a committee
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. swing — to play on
  15. swing — music
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. tube — the underground
  18. swing — in golf
  19. tube — a container
  20. board — to get on
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. bark — to shout
  24. bat — in an idiom

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