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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 116 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. kid — child
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — in a road
  9. court — of a king
  10. pound — a weight
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mine — for digging
  13. kid — to tease
  14. court — for sport
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. court — of law
  18. pound — to hit hard

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