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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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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 · snap · fall · content · kick · chair · court · squash

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. snap — to click
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. kick — in football
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. fall — to drop
  9. court — of a king
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. court — for sport
  13. scale — size or range
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. content — the amount
  16. scale — in music
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. court — of law
  20. content — happy
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. chair — a leader
  24. fall — the season

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