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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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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: pound · race · snap · court · spell · mine · chair · foot

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. race — a contest
  3. race — humankind
  4. court — for sport
  5. spell — magic
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. spell — a short time
  8. court — of law
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. foot — a measure
  11. spell — letters
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. court — of a king
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. chair — a leader
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. pound — a weight
  24. race — the arms race

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