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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wind · club · chair · suit · court · field

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. club — for golf
  3. field — a subject
  4. suit — clothes
  5. club — for dancing
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. field — farmland
  8. suit — to fit
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — a group
  12. suit — in cards
  13. court — of law
  14. court — of a king
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. court — for sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. field — for sport

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