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

Word bank: key · court · march · cue · file · net · bay · cell

  1. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. cue — a hint
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. key — for a lock
  6. net — after costs
  7. cue — a signal
  8. march — music
  9. cell — in biology
  10. file — a tool
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. cue — for pool
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. march — the month
  18. court — of a king
  19. key — the most important part
  20. march — the month
  21. court — of law
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. court — for sport

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