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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 · chair · calf · land · cabinet · spring · firm · degree

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — a coil
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. court — of law
  5. degree — an amount
  6. spring — the season
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. land — to come down
  11. chair — a leader
  12. firm — steady
  13. court — for sport
  14. firm — a company
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. degree — from a university
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. land — a country
  20. court — of a king
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. firm — decided
  23. spring — of water
  24. degree — temperature

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