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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: court · kid · wind · rush · spell · squash · chair · foot

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. rush — hurry
  3. wind — moving air
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. court — for sport
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. court — of a king
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spell — a short time
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. kid — to tease
  13. spell — letters
  14. foot — a measure
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. squash — to crush
  18. kid — child
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spell — magic
  22. court — of law
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. chair — a professorship

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