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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
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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: chest · fan · rule · ball · court · face · root · board

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. face — to confront
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rule — government
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ball — a dance
  8. court — of law
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. court — for sport
  11. board — to get on
  12. root — of a plant
  13. board — a committee
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. rule — a law
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — a box
  19. root — of a word
  20. face — part of the head
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. court — of a king
  23. root — the cause
  24. face — to point toward

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