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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: pound · clip · court · bowl · key · rock · field · file

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. key — in music
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. court — of law
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. field — farmland
  12. rock — a stone
  13. file — a line of people
  14. rock — music
  15. pound — a weight
  16. key — the most important part
  17. clip — to cut
  18. file — a tool
  19. field — for sport
  20. court — for sport
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. field — a subject
  23. court — of a king
  24. file — a document

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