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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 120 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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. court — of a king
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. court — for sport
  5. wind — moving air
  6. key — the most important part
  7. band — a music group
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. band — a ring
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. content — the amount
  12. fine — all right
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. key — in music
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. content — happy
  20. kick — in football
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. fine — high quality
  23. court — of law
  24. content — videos and posts

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