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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: racket · spring · foot · wind · swing · stock · temple · bat

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. stock — goods
  3. bat — the animal
  4. wind — moving air
  5. stock — shares
  6. spring — of water
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. wind — moving air
  9. spring — the season
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. spring — a coil
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. foot — a measure
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. swing — music
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. swing — to play on
  24. swing — in golf

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