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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: chair · snap · court · rest · trunk · game · file · drill

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. game — a match
  6. file — a tool
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — wild animals
  13. drill — the tool
  14. chair — a leader
  15. snap — to click
  16. drill — army training
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. court — of law
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. rest — what's left
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. rest — what's left

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