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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: court · root · wind · field · saw · mate · chair · rock

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. court — of law
  3. field — a subject
  4. rock — music
  5. mate — a friend
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. field — for sport
  8. root — of a word
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. saw — the tool
  13. court — for sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. root — of a plant
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. root — the cause
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. rock — a stone
  22. wind — moving air
  23. field — farmland
  24. mate — a partner

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