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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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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 · court · cell · bass · foot · lash · march · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. court — of a king
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. foot — a measure
  8. march — the month
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. cell — a phone
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. court — of law
  14. root — the cause
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bass — low music
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. court — for sport
  19. march — the month
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bass — the fish
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — of a word
  24. march — music

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