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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: net · cap · branch · fall · key · pit · court · content

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. content — the amount
  3. pit — in a race
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. branch — a division
  7. net — after costs
  8. court — for sport
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. key — in music
  11. court — of a king
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cap — a hat
  14. net — in sport
  15. content — happy
  16. cap — a lid
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. cap — of ice
  19. net — for catching
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. court — of law
  23. key — for a lock
  24. branch — of a tree

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