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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. court — of a king
  3. land — to come down
  4. net — after costs
  5. court — of law
  6. bore — to tire
  7. key — the most important part
  8. march — the month
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — for catching
  11. key — in music
  12. key — for a lock
  13. land — a country
  14. bore — to drill
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. court — for sport
  23. land — ground
  24. fall — to drop

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