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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 · root · wind · bat · march · stock · present · season

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. present — the time now
  5. root — the cause
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. wind — moving air
  9. march — the month
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. present — a gift
  12. stock — shares
  13. bat — the animal
  14. root — of a word
  15. chest — a box
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. season — of the year
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. present — there
  20. root — of a plant
  21. stock — goods
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. season — in sport

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