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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 120 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 · track · bat · court · mug · chair · cold · racket

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — not warm
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mug — a face
  6. root — of a word
  7. court — of law
  8. track — to keep track
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. mug — a cup
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. root — the cause
  16. mug — to rob
  17. court — of a king
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. root — of a plant
  24. racket — for tennis

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