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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: key · content · press · club · game · net · court · rash

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. content — the amount
  3. press — a publisher
  4. court — of law
  5. club — for golf
  6. key — for a lock
  7. press — newspapers
  8. club — for dancing
  9. key — in music
  10. court — of a king
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. key — the most important part
  13. rash — a series
  14. game — wild animals
  15. content — happy
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — for catching
  18. rash — hasty
  19. court — for sport
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. game — a match
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. net — in sport
  24. press — to push

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