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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
468
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 · bound · craft · current · hand · spring · court · chair

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. chair — a leader
  3. hand — help
  4. hand — in cards
  5. current — electric
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. current — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. land — to come down
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. spring — the season
  13. current — happening now
  14. land — ground
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. craft — a skill
  17. bound — tied together
  18. court — of law
  19. craft — boats
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. spring — of water
  23. land — a country
  24. court — of a king

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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