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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: squash · pass · game · field · sharp · root · court · straw

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. court — of a king
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. game — wild animals
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. sharp — clever
  8. game — a match
  9. root — of a plant
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. field — for sport
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. court — of law
  14. root — the cause
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. squash — the sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. field — farmland
  21. squash — to crush
  22. pass — a permit
  23. root — of a word
  24. pass — to succeed

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