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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: coach · swing · staff · fan · nail · drill · bat · cold

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. staff — a stick
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. staff — employees
  8. drill — a practice
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. drill — army training
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. swing — in golf
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. drill — the tool
  24. staff — employees

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