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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: spell · march · land · lie · bound · club · key · file

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. spell — letters
  4. lie — to recline
  5. club — for dancing
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — a country
  10. march — the month
  11. spell — magic
  12. club — a group
  13. file — a line of people
  14. key — for a lock
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. file — a document
  17. key — in music
  18. spell — a short time
  19. bound — tied together
  20. bound — certain
  21. club — for golf
  22. bound — obliged
  23. key — the most important part
  24. file — a tool

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