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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — in sport
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. land — ground
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. land — a country
  8. land — to come down
  9. chair — a leader
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. court — of a king
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bat — the animal
  19. court — for sport
  20. stand — to bear
  21. court — of law
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. net — after costs
  24. staff — employees

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