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

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. court — of law
  3. chest — a box
  4. file — a tool
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. ground — a position
  10. root — of a plant
  11. root — the cause
  12. court — for sport
  13. object — a thing
  14. file — a line of people
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — for digging
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. object — to protest
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chest — of your body
  21. squash — to crush
  22. object — an aim
  23. file — a document
  24. squash — the sport

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