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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 120 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 · race · spring · snap · board · bat · season · swing

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  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. season — of the year
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — humankind
  6. season — in sport
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bat — the animal
  9. snap — to click
  10. race — the arms race
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. swing — music
  13. swing — in golf
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. swing — to play on
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. race — a contest
  19. spring — of water
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. spring — the season
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. board — a committee
  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