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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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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: craft · race · leaves · snap · coach · bat · chair · mine

  1. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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. craft — a handicraft
  2. snap — to click
  3. craft — boats
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. craft — a skill
  6. bat — the animal
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — for digging
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. race — the arms race
  18. chair — a leader
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. race — humankind
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. race — a contest
  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