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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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. rule — government
  4. rule — a law
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. swing — in golf
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. swing — to play on
  10. spring — the season
  11. swing — music
  12. mine — for digging
  13. snap — to click
  14. court — of a king
  15. spring — of water
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. spring — a coil
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. court — of law
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. calf — a young animal

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