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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 · wound · arm · chair · bat · roll · land · kid

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. roll — a list
  4. wound — an injury
  5. court — of law
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. wound — an injury
  8. court — of a king
  9. land — to come down
  10. kid — child
  11. roll — a cake
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. bat — the animal
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. land — ground
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. kid — to tease
  24. court — for sport

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