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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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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. court — for sport
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a leader
  5. net — after costs
  6. bound — certain
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. court — of a king
  15. bound — obliged
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bound — tied together
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — a line

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