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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cell — in biology
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. hand — in cards
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cell — a phone
  11. game — a match
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. wound — an injury
  14. board — a committee
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. board — to get on
  17. snap — to click
  18. wound — an injury
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. hand — help
  24. cell — in a prison

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