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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cap — a hat
  4. roll — a list
  5. prune — to trim
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. roll — a cake
  12. cap — of ice
  13. branch — a division
  14. cap — a lid
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. key — for a lock
  17. degree — an amount
  18. key — in music
  19. degree — from a university
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. degree — temperature
  24. wind — moving air

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