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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: board · lash · court · bear · fall · cold · field · root

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. root — of a plant
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. root — of a word
  7. court — for sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. field — for sport
  11. court — of a king
  12. field — a subject
  13. fall — the season
  14. court — of law
  15. root — the cause
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. board — a committee
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. field — farmland

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