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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. root — of a plant
  3. court — of law
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. land — a country
  6. land — ground
  7. tear — to rip
  8. club — for golf
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. club — for dancing
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. root — the cause
  14. court — for sport
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. court — of a king
  17. file — a tool
  18. land — to come down
  19. root — of a word
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. file — a line of people
  22. deal — to handle
  23. file — a document
  24. club — a group

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