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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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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: snap · bat · spring · court · mate · squash · coach · race

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. spring — the season
  3. race — a contest
  4. race — the arms race
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. court — of law
  9. squash — the sport
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. squash — to crush
  13. spring — of water
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mate — to breed
  16. bat — the animal
  17. race — humankind
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. spring — a coil
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mate — a friend
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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