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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 · row · content · prune · board · rule · court · key

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. key — in music
  4. board — a committee
  5. rule — government
  6. game — a match
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. game — wild animals
  9. board — to get on
  10. row — a line
  11. key — for a lock
  12. key — the most important part
  13. court — for sport
  14. content — the amount
  15. court — of law
  16. rule — a law
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. row — to paddle
  21. court — of a king
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. rule — to rule out

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