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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: root · court · fan · pitcher · land · degree · last · board

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. degree — temperature
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. court — of a king
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. board — to get on
  7. court — of law
  8. board — a committee
  9. last — final
  10. last — to go on
  11. root — of a plant
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. land — ground
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. last — finally
  17. court — for sport
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. degree — an amount
  20. degree — from a university
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. root — the cause
  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