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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: wind · bat · plane · lean · rush · squash · root · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. root — of a plant
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — the animal
  10. squash — the sport
  11. chest — a box
  12. rush — hurry
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. lean — to bend
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — moving air
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. plane — a tool
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. root — the cause
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. lean — thin

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