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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: file · pit · race · coach · wind · root · bat · trunk

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bat — the animal
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. pit — in a race
  6. file — a tool
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. file — a line of people
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. race — a contest
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. root — of a plant
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. root — of a word
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. race — the arms race
  20. file — a document
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. root — the cause
  24. bat — for baseball

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