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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. land — a country
  3. court — for sport
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. march — music
  6. sharp — clever
  7. kid — child
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. key — for a lock
  12. court — of law
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. court — of a king
  16. key — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. key — the most important part
  19. march — the month
  20. rock — a stone
  21. land — to come down
  22. march — the month
  23. land — ground
  24. scale — in music

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