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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. key — for a lock
  3. race — a contest
  4. key — in music
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cue — a hint
  7. field — a subject
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cue — a signal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. field — farmland
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cue — for pool
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. key — the most important part
  16. field — for sport
  17. bat — the animal
  18. race — humankind

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