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

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. pop — to visit
  3. court — for sport
  4. degree — from a university
  5. craft — a skill
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. court — of law
  10. press — newspapers
  11. court — of a king
  12. key — the most important part
  13. craft — boats
  14. press — a publisher
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. march — the month
  17. pop — music
  18. pop — soda
  19. press — to push
  20. key — for a lock
  21. clip — a video
  22. degree — temperature
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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