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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: band · stem · fall · land · chair · wake · court · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. land — ground
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. fall — to drop
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — to come from
  8. wake — a trail
  9. court — of law
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. court — for sport
  14. land — a country
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. kid — to tease
  17. court — of a king
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. band — a music group
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. band — a ring
  23. land — to come down
  24. chair — a leader

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