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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: pass · ball · clip · scale · court · date · spell · wake

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. ball — a great time
  3. court — of a king
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. pass — a permit
  8. spell — a short time
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. court — for sport
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. court — of law
  16. spell — magic
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. date — the fruit
  21. scale — in music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. scale — size or range
  24. spell — letters

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