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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: hand · leaves · pitcher · spring · court · current · bat · coach

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. spring — a coil
  5. current — happening now
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. court — of a king
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. current — of water
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. current — electric
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. court — for sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spring — of water
  19. bat — the animal
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. court — of law
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. spring — the season

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