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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: bound · court · stock · straw · face · arm · chair · shower

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a leader
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — to wash
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. face — to confront
  11. court — for sport
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. bound — obliged
  14. bound — tied together
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. shower — rain
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. court — of a king
  19. face — part of the head
  20. stock — shares
  21. face — to point toward
  22. stock — goods
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. straw — a straw man

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