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

Word bank: band · lie · cell · pitch · content · key · club · dip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. key — for a lock
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. club — for dancing
  7. dip — to sink
  8. lie — to recline
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. band — a music group
  11. club — a group
  12. key — the most important part
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. pitch — completely
  15. cell — in biology
  16. content — happy
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. band — a ring
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cell — a phone
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. content — the amount
  24. key — in music

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