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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. court — of law
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. court — of a king
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. object — a thing
  7. fall — to drop
  8. scale — in music
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. object — to protest
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. net — for catching
  16. branch — a division
  17. net — in sport
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. object — an aim
  21. net — after costs
  22. fall — the season
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — for weighing

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