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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: scale · wound · press · net · swing · fall · capital · court

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. net — after costs
  6. press — newspapers
  7. wound — an injury
  8. net — for catching
  9. swing — music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — of law
  15. fall — the season
  16. press — a publisher
  17. net — in sport
  18. capital — a city
  19. scale — size or range
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fall — to drop
  23. scale — in music
  24. press — to push

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