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

Word bank: bat · swing · snap · chest · deal · shower · coach · sharp

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. snap — to click
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. chest — of your body
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. sharp — clever
  14. swing — in golf
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chest — of your body
  17. swing — music
  18. shower — rain
  19. shower — to wash
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. swing — to play on
  23. chest — a box
  24. deal — to handle

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