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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: trunk · face · root · cold · suit · tube · court · rule

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. root — of a plant
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. suit — in cards
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to point toward
  10. suit — to fit
  11. root — the cause
  12. cold — an illness
  13. suit — clothes
  14. court — of law
  15. face — to confront
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tube — the underground
  20. rule — a law
  21. tube — a container
  22. root — of a word
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. trunk — of a tree

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