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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: court · wind · branch · hide · chair · race · pound · fine

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. race — a contest
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. branch — a division
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. chair — a leader
  14. court — of a king
  15. wind — moving air
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. court — of law
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. race — the arms race
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. court — for sport
  23. race — humankind
  24. fine — high quality

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