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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: bay · coach · degree · tube · swing · bear · chest · bat

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tube — a container
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. swing — to play on
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. tube — the underground
  10. degree — an amount
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. degree — from a university
  14. degree — temperature
  15. bear — the animal
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. chest — a box
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. swing — music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — of your body

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