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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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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: cell · sharp · court · chip · last · content · land · key

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. court — for sport
  3. key — in music
  4. sharp — clever
  5. last — finally
  6. key — the most important part
  7. chip — for betting
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. last — to go on
  10. cell — in biology
  11. court — of law
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. court — of a king
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chip — to eat
  16. content — the amount
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. key — for a lock
  24. land — ground

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