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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bowl · squash · mine · bat · bark · temple

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. squash — the sport
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bark — to shout
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — in cards
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. hand — help
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. bowl — to roll

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