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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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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: land · ground · coach · fork · lash · stem · swing · bat

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. ground — a position
  3. fork — in a road
  4. swing — music
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. bat — the animal
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. swing — in golf
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. stem — to come from
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. land — to come down
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. ground — the earth
  21. swing — to play on
  22. ground — crushed
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. land — a country

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