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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 · lie · kid · chest · roll · row · chair · can

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — a tin
  4. court — for sport
  5. lie — to recline
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. row — a line
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — a list
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. court — of a king
  12. chest — of your body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. can — to be able to
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. kid — child
  18. chest — a box
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. row — to paddle
  21. kid — to tease
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. chair — a leader
  24. court — of law

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