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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 116 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 · club · bat · nail · squash · ground · coach · clip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. ground — crushed
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. field — farmland
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. squash — the sport
  10. field — for sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. club — for dancing
  13. field — a subject
  14. ground — the earth
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. bat — the animal
  17. ground — a position
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. club — a group
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. squash — to crush

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