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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: root · date · straw · ball · racket · cold · present · row

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. root — the cause
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. row — a line
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. present — there
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cold — an illness
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. present — the time now
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. present — a gift
  19. ball — a dance
  20. cold — not warm
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. root — of a plant
  23. row — to paddle
  24. root — of a word

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