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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: ground · root · rash · chest · tear · perch · wound · racket

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. wound — an injury
  6. perch — the fish
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. ground — crushed
  10. chest — of your body
  11. root — the cause
  12. tear — to rip
  13. ground — the earth
  14. wound — an injury
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. root — of a plant
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. root — of a word
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rash — a series
  22. ground — a position
  23. chest — a box
  24. perch — for a bird

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