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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: chair · rash · court · hand · game · board · can · cold

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. can — a tin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — a leader
  5. court — of a king
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. board — to get on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rash — a series
  12. board — a committee
  13. game — wild animals
  14. can — to be able to
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. court — for sport
  17. game — a match
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. hand — help
  20. can — a tin
  21. rash — hasty
  22. court — of law
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. chair — to sit on

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