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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: chest · rest · racket · bat · land · wind · swing · root

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. swing — in golf
  4. land — to come down
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. land — ground
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. swing — music
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. root — of a word
  15. rest — a break
  16. root — the cause
  17. swing — to play on
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. bat — the animal
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. land — a country

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