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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: shower · land · chip · game · court · root · roll · net

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. root — the cause
  3. game — wild animals
  4. land — a country
  5. root — of a plant
  6. court — of a king
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. roll — a cake
  9. shower — rain
  10. net — for catching
  11. court — for sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. root — of a word
  16. chip — to eat
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. shower — to wash
  19. net — in sport
  20. roll — a list
  21. land — ground
  22. chip — for betting
  23. game — a match
  24. court — of law

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