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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: mate · wake · swing · spring · chest · hand · bat · nail

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. swing — music
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. hand — in cards
  9. bat — the animal
  10. wake — a trail
  11. spring — of water
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. spring — a coil
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. swing — in golf
  16. mate — to breed
  17. chest — a box
  18. swing — to play on
  19. mate — a friend
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. hand — help
  24. mate — a partner

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