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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: date · racket · root · kid · swing · stand · mine · row

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. root — of a plant
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. kid — child
  7. root — the cause
  8. row — a line
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. date — the fruit
  11. root — of a word
  12. swing — to play on
  13. mine — for digging
  14. row — to paddle
  15. kid — to tease
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. stand — to bear
  20. swing — in golf
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. swing — music
  24. row — a quarrel

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