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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: scale · pass · kid · mate · net · tube · fork · court

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. court — of a king
  6. pass — a permit
  7. net — after costs
  8. tube — the underground
  9. court — of law
  10. scale — size or range
  11. net — for catching
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mate — to breed
  14. court — for sport
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. mate — a friend
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. mate — a partner
  21. kid — child
  22. net — in sport
  23. scale — in music
  24. pass — to succeed

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