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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 116 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 · tear · court · saw · hand · capital · board · craft

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. court — of a king
  3. hand — in cards
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. court — for sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. board — to get on
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. chair — a leader
  15. tear — to rip
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. saw — the tool
  19. capital — a city
  20. court — of law
  21. hand — help
  22. saw — the tool
  23. board — a committee
  24. craft — a skill

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