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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 ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. root — of a plant
  4. root — of a word
  5. root — the cause
  6. degree — an amount
  7. court — of a king
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bank — for money
  10. mine — for digging
  11. spring — the season
  12. spring — a coil
  13. degree — temperature
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spring — of water
  19. degree — from a university
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. bank — of a river
  23. bank — for money
  24. court — for 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