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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: field · chair · capital · trunk · face · court · bear · shower

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. court — of law
  3. shower — to wash
  4. face — to confront
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. court — of a king
  9. field — a subject
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. bear — the animal
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. field — for sport
  15. face — to point toward
  16. field — farmland
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. shower — rain
  19. court — for sport
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bear — the animal
  23. face — part of the head
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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