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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: patient · last · face · chair · court · ball · fall · perch

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. court — of a king
  3. fall — to drop
  4. court — of law
  5. last — to go on
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. last — finally
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. face — to point toward
  12. fall — to drop
  13. perch — the fish
  14. court — for sport
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. chair — a leader
  18. fall — the season
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. ball — a great time
  21. ball — a dance
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. perch — for a bird

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