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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 ball is in your ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. spell — magic
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. key — in music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. court — of a king
  11. key — the most important part
  12. pitch — completely
  13. scale — in music
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. clip — a video
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. march — music
  20. key — for a lock
  21. march — the month
  22. scale — size or range
  23. court — of law
  24. scale — for weighing

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