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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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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: bat · hand · chip · root · wind · trunk · chest · stick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. root — of a word
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. chip — for betting
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. hand — in cards
  16. root — the cause
  17. chest — a box
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chest — of your body
  20. root — of a plant
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. chip — to eat
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — part of the body

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