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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: bat · face · perch · ground · court · leaves · scale · land

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. court — for sport
  3. scale — size or range
  4. land — ground
  5. court — of law
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. face — to confront
  10. land — to come down
  11. ground — a position
  12. face — to point toward
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. scale — in music
  16. perch — the fish
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ground — the earth
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. land — a country
  22. court — of a king
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. leaves — lets stay

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