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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: face · swing · tube · spring · sharp · racket · bat · calf

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  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. tube — in a tire
  2. tube — the underground
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. sharp — clever
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — in golf
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. spring — the season
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — of water
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. swing — to play on
  15. tube — a container
  16. spring — a coil
  17. face — to confront
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. bat — the animal
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  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