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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. wound — an injury
  4. land — ground
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. court — of a king
  7. spring — of water
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. land — a country
  10. spring — a coil
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. fine — high quality
  13. land — to come down
  14. wound — an injury
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. court — for sport
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. fine — all right
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. spring — the season
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. court — of law
  24. kick — in football

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