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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: perch · court · chest · track · bat · bank · chair · drill

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. chair — a leader
  3. perch — the fish
  4. chest — of your body
  5. track — a song
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bank — of a river
  10. drill — the tool
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. drill — a practice
  17. court — of law
  18. court — for sport
  19. chest — a box
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. bank — for money
  22. track — a path
  23. drill — army training
  24. bank — for money

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