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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: fan · land · wind · capital · fall · court · mate · chair

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — for sport
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mate — to breed
  10. land — a country
  11. mate — a partner
  12. court — of law
  13. land — to come down
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. capital — money
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. capital — a city
  19. fall — the season
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. land — ground
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mate — a friend

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