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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: perch · fall · foot · court · capital · scale · board · degree

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. degree — from a university
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. court — of a king
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — to get on
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. degree — an amount
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — size or range
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — a city
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. fall — to drop
  17. capital — money
  18. court — of law
  19. perch — the fish
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. fall — the season
  23. scale — in music
  24. degree — temperature

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