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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: land · lean · chair · last · court · trunk · swing · wind

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. land — ground
  3. lean — thin
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. swing — music
  9. lean — to bend
  10. wind — moving air
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. swing — to play on
  13. land — to come down
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. swing — in golf
  16. last — final
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. land — a country
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wind — moving air
  21. chair — a leader
  22. last — to go on
  23. last — finally
  24. lean — to rest against

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