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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: mine · lash · file · land · snap · court · wake · chair

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  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. snap — to click
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. file — a tool
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. land — a country
  10. file — a line of people
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. court — for sport
  13. court — of law
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wake — a trail
  16. land — to come down
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. file — a document
  19. court — of a king
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. mine — for digging
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. land — ground
  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