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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: wake · court · club · last · degree · wave · root · trunk

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. court — for sport
  3. club — for golf
  4. last — final
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. root — the cause
  7. wake — a trail
  8. degree — temperature
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. last — finally
  11. club — a group
  12. degree — an amount
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. club — for dancing
  17. root — of a plant
  18. court — of a king
  19. root — of a word
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. court — of law
  22. degree — from a university
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. wave — of the sea

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