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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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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 · bass · content · craft · court · kid · rest · fall

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. court — for sport
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. kid — child
  6. bass — the fish
  7. craft — boats
  8. fall — to drop
  9. content — happy
  10. craft — a skill
  11. court — of law
  12. key — in music
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rest — a break
  15. rest — what's left
  16. fall — to drop
  17. court — of a king
  18. bass — low music
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. rest — what's left
  21. content — the amount
  22. key — for a lock
  23. fall — the season
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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