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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. file — a line of people
  4. face — to point toward
  5. game — a match
  6. root — of a word
  7. root — of a plant
  8. court — of law
  9. court — for sport
  10. face — to confront
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. file — a document
  15. roll — a list
  16. capital — money
  17. face — part of the head
  18. root — the cause
  19. court — of a king
  20. rule — a law
  21. game — wild animals
  22. rule — government
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. file — a tool

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