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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: last · court · pit · season · club · clip · can · key

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. club — for golf
  3. key — for a lock
  4. season — in sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. can — a tin
  7. last — finally
  8. key — in music
  9. court — of law
  10. club — a group
  11. court — of a king
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. clip — to cut
  14. last — to go on
  15. season — of the year
  16. key — the most important part
  17. court — for sport
  18. can — to be able to
  19. can — a tin
  20. last — final
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pit — a hole
  23. clip — a video
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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