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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: club · cold · bound · rock · spell · court · land · chair

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. court — of a king
  3. spell — magic
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bound — tied together
  7. spell — letters
  8. bound — certain
  9. rock — a stone
  10. bound — obliged
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. chair — a leader
  13. court — of law
  14. land — a country
  15. club — for golf
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. club — for dancing
  19. club — a group
  20. rock — music
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — for sport
  23. spell — a short time
  24. land — to come down

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