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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: date · coach · roll · board · bat · mark · straw · ground

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. board — a committee
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. ground — a position
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. roll — a list
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. mark — a grade
  16. roll — a cake
  17. ground — crushed
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. mark — a trace
  22. board — to get on
  23. ground — the earth
  24. date — the fruit

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