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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · cue · coach · spring · wind · fan · racket · game

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  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. cue — a hint
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cue — for pool
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. spring — of water
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. cue — a signal
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. bat — the animal
  23. game — a match
  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