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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 116 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: club · track · court · kid · racket · spring · swing · root

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. court — of a king
  4. kid — child
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. root — of a plant
  7. spring — the season
  8. court — of law
  9. root — the cause
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. swing — to play on
  12. court — for sport
  13. swing — in golf
  14. swing — music
  15. kid — to tease
  16. track — a path
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. track — to keep track
  19. club — for dancing
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. root — of a word
  23. club — for golf
  24. track — a song

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