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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: cold · spring · game · chair · staff · bank · fan · court

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — a stick
  5. court — of law
  6. game — wild animals
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — for sport
  9. spring — of water
  10. game — a match
  11. court — of a king
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bank — for money
  14. staff — employees
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bank — of a river
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bank — for money

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