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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: spring · coach · hand · tube · bat · suit · race · ground

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. ground — crushed
  4. race — the arms race
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — a container
  10. spring — of water
  11. ground — the earth
  12. suit — to fit
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. suit — clothes
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — a coil
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spring — the season
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bat — the animal

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