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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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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: cell · hand · roll · bat · ground · spring · swing · pass

  1. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — in golf
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. spring — of water
  4. roll — a list
  5. cell — in biology
  6. swing — music
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — crushed
  9. bat — the animal
  10. swing — to play on
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. ground — a position
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cell — a phone
  16. spring — a coil
  17. hand — help
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. pass — a permit
  20. ground — the earth
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. roll — a cake
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bat — in an idiom

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