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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: rock · coach · game · branch · snap · date · roll · bat

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. game — wild animals
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. branch — a division
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. game — a match
  9. rock — music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. roll — a list
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. date — the fruit
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. snap — to click
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. rock — a stone
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. game — a kind of play

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