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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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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: date · chest · land · trunk · racket · race · mark · root

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. land — ground
  4. race — humankind
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. root — of a plant
  7. chest — of your body
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. land — a country
  11. race — a contest
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. mark — a trace
  14. race — the arms race
  15. land — to come down
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. date — the fruit
  18. chest — a box
  19. root — of a word
  20. root — the cause
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mark — a grade
  24. racket — a loud noise

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