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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: bass · spring · root · racket · kick · race · season · kid

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. race — a contest
  5. season — in sport
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bass — low music
  8. kick — in football
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. root — of a plant
  15. kid — child
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — of water
  18. race — humankind
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. root — the cause
  21. race — the arms race
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. root — of a word
  24. spring — the season

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