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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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. snap — to snap out of it
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. land — ground
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. land — a country
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — in football
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. land — to come down
  22. snap — to click
  23. court — of a king
  24. court — of law

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