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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: chair · chest · craft · last · court · straw · fan · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. court — of law
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. chest — of your body
  5. last — final
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. last — to go on
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. craft — boats
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of a king
  14. last — finally
  15. land — ground
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. chest — a box
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. land — to come down
  22. craft — a skill
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fan — to cool the air

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