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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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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: arm · branch · chair · kid · court · hand · ground · land

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. ground — crushed
  7. court — of a king
  8. kid — child
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. chair — a leader
  12. land — ground
  13. hand — help
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. branch — a division
  16. land — to come down
  17. court — for sport
  18. ground — the earth
  19. kid — to tease
  20. land — a country
  21. ground — a position
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. chair — a professorship

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