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

Word bank: cabinet · court · degree · chest · cell · root

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chest — a box
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chest — of your body
  5. degree — from a university
  6. root — of a plant
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — the cause
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cell — in biology
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — an amount
  16. court — of law
  17. cell — a phone
  18. court — of a king

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