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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. sharp — clever
  3. court — of law
  4. chest — a box
  5. root — of a plant
  6. chest — of your body
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. drill — a practice
  12. clip — for paper
  13. board — a committee
  14. clip — a video
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. root — the cause
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chest — of your body
  19. root — of a word
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. court — of a king
  24. temple — side of the head

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