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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. hand — in cards
  3. court — of law
  4. root — of a word
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ground — crushed
  8. root — the cause
  9. hand — help
  10. board — to get on
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — a position
  14. file — a line of people
  15. board — a committee
  16. file — a document
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. mine — for digging
  19. root — of a plant
  20. court — for sport
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ground — the earth

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