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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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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: court · date · wind · rule · pit · chest

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. court — of a king
  3. court — of law
  4. chest — a box
  5. pit — a hole
  6. date — the fruit
  7. pit — in a race
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. court — for sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rule — government
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wind — moving air

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