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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: roll · capital · root · degree · chest · face · court · swing

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. face — to point toward
  4. face — part of the head
  5. swing — music
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. degree — temperature
  9. degree — an amount
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. swing — in golf
  12. roll — a list
  13. degree — from a university
  14. face — to confront
  15. root — the cause
  16. chest — of your body
  17. roll — a cake
  18. chest — a box
  19. root — of a plant
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. chest — of your body
  23. swing — to play on
  24. court — of a king

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