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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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Word bank
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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: club · racket · clip · key · pop · ground · march · firm

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. firm — decided
  3. firm — a company
  4. club — a group
  5. club — for golf
  6. club — for dancing
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. clip — to cut
  9. key — for a lock
  10. pop — soda
  11. march — music
  12. ground — crushed
  13. firm — steady
  14. pop — to visit
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. ground — the earth
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. key — in music
  19. pop — music
  20. ground — a position
  21. march — the month
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — the month
  24. clip — a video

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