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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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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 · fall · chair · bear · squash · last · rule · roll

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. court — of law
  4. fall — to drop
  5. rule — a law
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. roll — a cake
  8. last — finally
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. court — of a king
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. squash — to crush
  14. last — final
  15. bear — the animal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chair — a leader
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. court — for sport
  22. rule — government
  23. roll — a list
  24. bear — to put up with

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