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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: chest · cold · spell · content · bowl · swing · squash · root

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. swing — music
  3. spell — a short time
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. squash — the sport
  9. root — the cause
  10. chest — a box
  11. content — happy
  12. swing — in golf
  13. chest — of your body
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. root — of a word
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — letters
  18. squash — to crush
  19. chest — of your body
  20. swing — to play on
  21. spell — magic
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. content — the amount

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