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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 · tear · season · hide · fall · chair · leaves · court

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. court — of law
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. court — of a king
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. tear — from crying
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. tear — from crying
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. season — in sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. court — for sport
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. fall — the season
  17. fall — to drop
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. chair — a leader
  21. land — a country
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — to come down
  24. season — of the year

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