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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: file · root · bay · kid · wind · racket · rock · branch

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. root — of a plant
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rock — a stone
  8. root — the cause
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. branch — a division
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. kid — child
  20. root — of a word
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — to tease
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. rock — 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