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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 120 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: chair · bat · snap · cold · deal · club · coach · dip

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. club — for golf
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. snap — to click
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. club — for dancing
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bat — the animal
  16. dip — to sink
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. cold — not warm
  19. club — a group
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. deal — to handle
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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