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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: scale · pop · kick · net · march · firm · chest · court

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. net — for catching
  3. firm — steady
  4. court — of a king
  5. court — of law
  6. pop — soda
  7. net — in sport
  8. chest — of your body
  9. march — the month
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — a company
  12. net — after costs
  13. pop — to visit
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kick — in football
  16. scale — size or range
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. march — music
  19. pop — music
  20. march — the month
  21. scale — in music
  22. court — for sport
  23. chest — a box
  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