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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 120 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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. court — of a king
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. suit — clothes
  7. court — of law
  8. suit — to fit
  9. rule — a law
  10. chair — a leader
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. game — wild animals
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chest — a box
  15. suit — in cards
  16. game — a match
  17. chest — of your body
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. court — for sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — to eat with

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