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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. root — of a word
  3. object — to protest
  4. court — of a king
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. root — the cause
  7. net — after costs
  8. ground — the earth
  9. content — happy
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. root — of a plant
  12. wax — to grow
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. court — for sport
  17. content — the amount
  18. ground — a position
  19. net — for catching
  20. ground — crushed
  21. object — a thing
  22. net — in sport
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. court — of law

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