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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 · season · stand · spring · squash · chest · band · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. chest — of your body
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spring — of water
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. spring — a coil
  7. band — a music group
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. spring — the season
  10. chest — of your body
  11. season — in sport
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. season — of the year
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. chest — a box
  18. band — a ring
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bat — for baseball
  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