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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: leaves · wake · court · clip · scale · fall

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. court — of law
  4. fall — the season
  5. wake — a trail
  6. clip — for paper
  7. scale — size or range
  8. fall — to drop
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. fall — to drop
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. clip — a video
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. court — of a king
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wake — to stop sleeping

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