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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 120 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: can · court · fan · cue · fall · scale · row · field

  1. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. row — a line
  4. cue — for pool
  5. court — of law
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. court — of a king
  10. field — a subject
  11. cue — a hint
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. field — for sport
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. scale — in music
  18. cue — a signal
  19. field — farmland
  20. court — for sport
  21. row — to paddle
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. scale — size or range
  24. fall — to drop

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