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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · cold · fan · branch · court · scale · straw · racket

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. branch — a division
  4. cold — not warm
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. court — of a king
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. scale — size or range
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. court — for sport
  20. court — of law
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. branch — of a bank

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