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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: chest · lash · roll · squash · field · pop · racket · race

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. pop — to visit
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. chest — a box
  7. pop — music
  8. squash — to crush
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. field — farmland
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. roll — a list
  16. squash — the sport
  17. field — for sport
  18. race — the arms race
  19. roll — a cake
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — humankind
  23. field — a subject
  24. pop — soda

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