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

Word bank: chair · race · bowl · root · court · wake

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. root — of a plant
  3. court — of a king
  4. root — the cause
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. court — for sport
  7. race — a contest
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. court — of law
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. race — the arms race
  15. chair — a leader
  16. root — of a word
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. race — humankind

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