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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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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: land · chair · court · deal · stand · bat

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

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

Answer key

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

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