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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: mark · chair · squash · court · saw · charge · drill · kid

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. court — for sport
  3. charge — in control
  4. mark — a grade
  5. court — of law
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. kid — to tease
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. charge — electricity
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chair — a leader
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. charge — a price
  16. squash — to crush
  17. drill — a practice
  18. saw — the tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mark — a trace
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. kid — child
  24. court — of a king

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