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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: season · clip · content · ruler · bound · key · court · sharp

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. content — happy
  3. key — in music
  4. content — the amount
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. clip — to cut
  7. sharp — clever
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. bound — obliged
  10. key — the most important part
  11. clip — a video
  12. key — for a lock
  13. season — of the year
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. bound — certain
  17. court — for sport
  18. court — of law
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. court — of a king
  21. bound — tied together
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. season — in sport

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