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

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. key — in music
  3. band — a music group
  4. key — the most important part
  5. cell — in biology
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — a country
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. land — ground
  15. band — a ring
  16. chest — a box
  17. land — to come down
  18. stem — a stem cell

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