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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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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: mate · plane · bat · chip · chest · prune · lash · root

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. mate — a partner
  3. prune — to trim
  4. root — of a word
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. chip — for betting
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bat — the animal
  14. prune — to trim
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mate — a friend
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chip — to eat
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. root — of a plant
  22. chest — a box
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. root — the cause

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