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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: net · wound · chair · court · scale · fan · mine · bat

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. scale — in music
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — for catching
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. mine — for digging
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. net — after costs
  13. court — for sport
  14. scale — size or range
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. court — of a king
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. court — of law
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. net — in sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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