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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: staff · cold · rock · game · court · root · scale · season

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. staff — a stick
  3. court — of a king
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. scale — size or range
  6. staff — employees
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. rock — music
  9. staff — employees
  10. court — for sport
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. court — of law
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. scale — in music
  15. root — of a word
  16. season — in sport
  17. game — a match
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rock — a stone
  20. cold — not warm
  21. root — the cause
  22. season — of the year
  23. root — of a plant
  24. game — wild animals

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