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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: coach · board · straw · mug · tube · swing · game · spring

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. spring — a coil
  3. mug — to rob
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. tube — the underground
  7. mug — a face
  8. spring — of water
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. spring — the season
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. board — a committee
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. swing — to play on
  15. tube — a container
  16. swing — in golf
  17. board — to get on
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. swing — music
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. game — wild animals

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