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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: hand · kid · chair · toast · court · bear · land · chest

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. land — a country
  3. kid — to tease
  4. land — to come down
  5. chest — a box
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bear — the animal
  9. toast — bread
  10. land — ground
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. kid — child
  16. hand — in cards
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. chair — a leader
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. chest — of your body
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. chest — of your body
  23. hand — help
  24. bear — the animal

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