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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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Word bank
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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: march · lash · degree · land · ground · chair · root · rule

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rule — government
  4. degree — from a university
  5. land — ground
  6. ground — a position
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. march — the month
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. degree — an amount
  13. land — to come down
  14. degree — temperature
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. land — a country
  17. root — of a plant
  18. ground — the earth
  19. march — music
  20. ground — crushed
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. rule — a law
  23. march — the month
  24. root — of a word

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