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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 116 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: kid · patient · coach · spring · bat · cap · ruler · band

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kid — to tease
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. spring — the season
  6. cap — a hat
  7. spring — of water
  8. band — a ring
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. cap — of ice
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. cap — a lid
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. kid — child
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a music group
  22. spring — a coil
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — for baseball

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