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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: chair · fan · jam · racket · last · court · wound · kick

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. court — of law
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. last — final
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. wound — an injury
  14. chair — a leader
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wound — an injury
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. court — of a king
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — for sport
  21. last — finally
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. kick — in football

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