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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 · bore · jam · court · swing · land · pitcher · deal

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. deal — to handle
  4. court — of a king
  5. land — a country
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. court — for sport
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — to drill
  16. swing — in golf
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. swing — to play on
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. swing — music
  21. chair — a leader
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — ground
  24. court — of law

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