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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 120 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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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: board · court · wind · trunk · bound · kid · chair · patient

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. board — to get on
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. wind — moving air
  8. board — a committee
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. bound — obliged
  11. kid — child
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. bound — tied together
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. wind — moving air
  19. court — of a king
  20. kid — to tease
  21. court — of law
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — certain

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