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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: bore · game · snap · season · court · pitch · chair · wind

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. court — for sport
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a match
  7. bore — to tire
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. wind — moving air
  12. court — of law
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. court — of a king
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. season — of the year
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. snap — to click
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. season — in sport
  21. bore — to drill
  22. wind — moving air
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. pitch — completely

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