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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: game · key · court · net · scale · mark · prune · file

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. file — a line of people
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — wild animals
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — after costs
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. mark — a grade
  9. scale — in music
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. key — for a lock
  14. file — a document
  15. prune — to trim
  16. court — for sport
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. net — for catching
  19. court — of law
  20. mark — a trace
  21. file — a tool
  22. key — the most important part
  23. key — in music
  24. game — a match

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