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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 120 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.

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: face · court · chair · fork · bound · wound · land · file

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. land — a country
  3. court — of a king
  4. file — a line of people
  5. file — a document
  6. bound — certain
  7. face — to confront
  8. bound — obliged
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bound — tied together
  12. land — ground
  13. file — a tool
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. chair — a leader
  16. land — to come down
  17. face — part of the head
  18. court — of law
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — for sport
  24. face — to point toward

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