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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 · toast · kick · root · net · trunk · rush · swing

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. toast — bread
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. root — of a plant
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. root — of a word
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. chest — a box
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. net — for catching
  12. chest — of your body
  13. swing — in golf
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. swing — music
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. net — after costs
  18. root — the cause
  19. net — in sport
  20. swing — to play on
  21. kick — in football
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rush — hurry
  24. toast — the most admired

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