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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: wind · club · squash · court · straw · rest · root · kid

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. club — for golf
  3. rest — a break
  4. squash — to crush
  5. rest — what's left
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. court — of a king
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. root — of a plant
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. root — of a word
  13. root — the cause
  14. court — of law
  15. club — a group
  16. kid — child
  17. rest — what's left
  18. court — for sport
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. club — for dancing
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — to tease
  24. squash — the 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