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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 · season · chair · snap · wind · tube · fork · mine

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. chair — a leader
  3. court — of law
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — for digging
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. wind — moving air
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. snap — to click
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. season — in sport
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. tube — a container
  19. tube — the underground
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mine — an explosive

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