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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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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: can · hand · bear · bat · coach · mine · snap · land

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. land — a country
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — a tin
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to click
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hand — in cards
  11. land — to come down
  12. mine — for digging
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. can — to be able to
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bear — the animal
  23. mine — belonging to me
  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