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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chest · wake · root · court · degree · last · ball · land

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. 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. root — of a word
  2. ball — a great time
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. wake — a trail
  6. chest — of your body
  7. degree — temperature
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. degree — an amount
  11. court — for sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. root — of a plant
  16. ball — a dance
  17. last — finally
  18. last — final
  19. court — of law
  20. last — to go on
  21. root — the cause
  22. land — ground
  23. degree — from a university
  24. 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