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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. capital — money
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. stand — to bear
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. land — ground
  11. land — a country
  12. chest — of your body
  13. branch — a division
  14. court — of law
  15. capital — a city
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. chest — of your body
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. court — of a king
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chest — a box
  24. land — to come down

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