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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: court · firm · current · wake · scale · land · cap · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. court — for sport
  4. current — of water
  5. cap — a hat
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. cap — a lid
  9. current — electric
  10. cap — of ice
  11. wake — a trail
  12. firm — a company
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. scale — size or range
  16. land — ground
  17. club — a group
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. firm — steady
  23. current — happening now
  24. firm — decided

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