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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: hand · coach · date · arm · bass · tear · spring · net

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. spring — of water
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. spring — the season
  6. net — for catching
  7. date — the fruit
  8. net — after costs
  9. bass — low music
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. tear — from crying
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. spring — a coil
  18. bass — the fish
  19. hand — help
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. hand — in cards
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. net — in sport
  24. arm — part of the 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