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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: ground · root · wound · court · cap · roll · field · rule

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. court — for sport
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rule — government
  5. wound — an injury
  6. rule — a law
  7. roll — a list
  8. ground — crushed
  9. cap — a hat
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. field — for sport
  12. cap — a lid
  13. court — of law
  14. field — a subject
  15. wound — an injury
  16. roll — a cake
  17. cap — of ice
  18. root — of a plant
  19. field — farmland
  20. root — of a word
  21. ground — the earth
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. ground — a position
  24. root — the cause

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