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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — a list
  3. key — in music
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. land — to come down
  6. track — a song
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. clip — to cut
  9. court — of law
  10. key — for a lock
  11. face — part of the head
  12. court — for sport
  13. clip — a video
  14. court — of a king
  15. land — ground
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. track — a path
  18. face — to point toward
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. land — a country
  21. clip — for paper
  22. face — to confront
  23. track — to keep track
  24. key — the most important part

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