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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 · wake · root · fall · pitcher · roll · saw · court

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. saw — the tool
  6. root — the cause
  7. wake — a trail
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. court — of law
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. fall — the season
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. scale — in music
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fall — to drop
  19. court — for sport
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. root — of a word
  23. court — of a king
  24. root — of a plant

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