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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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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cue — a hint
  3. fall — to drop
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. last — finally
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cue — for pool
  9. scale — in music
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. court — of a king
  13. cue — a signal
  14. fall — to drop
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. wake — a trail
  17. court — of law
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. fall — the season
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. clip — a video
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. court — for sport

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