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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: key · track · pitcher · land · club · chair · clip · face

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. club — a group
  4. land — ground
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. clip — a video
  7. key — in music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — a leader
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. club — for golf
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. face — part of the head
  14. key — for a lock
  15. face — to point toward
  16. key — the most important part
  17. club — for dancing
  18. track — to keep track
  19. face — to confront
  20. land — a country
  21. clip — for paper
  22. track — a path
  23. land — to come down
  24. pitcher — a jug

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