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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: game · snap · bear · bat · rest · coach · clip · branch

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — for paper
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. bear — the animal
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bear — the animal
  13. branch — a division
  14. snap — to click
  15. rest — what's left
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. rest — a break
  22. rest — what's left
  23. bat — the animal
  24. coach — a trainer

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