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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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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. stock — shares
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. court — for sport
  9. bore — to tire
  10. mine — for digging
  11. stock — goods
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. key — for a lock
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. key — in music
  17. wax — to grow
  18. pitch — completely
  19. hand — help
  20. bore — to drill
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. court — of a king
  23. court — of law
  24. wax — in the ear

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