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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: field · chest · bass · chip · court · bark · root · stem

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. root — the cause
  3. stem — to come from
  4. root — of a word
  5. root — of a plant
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bass — low music
  8. court — of a king
  9. chest — a box
  10. chest — of your body
  11. field — a subject
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. field — for sport
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. chip — for betting
  17. bass — the fish
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. field — farmland
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. court — of law
  24. stem — of a plant

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