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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: wind · chest · spring · chair · root · racket · pit · bark

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chair — a leader
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. root — the cause
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. root — of a word
  8. spring — of water
  9. pit — in a race
  10. chest — a box
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bark — to shout
  13. root — of a plant
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wind — moving air
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. spring — the season
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. racket — for tennis

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