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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. board — a committee
  3. spring — a coil
  4. roll — a list
  5. key — the most important part
  6. spring — of water
  7. key — for a lock
  8. board — to get on
  9. track — a path
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. spring — the season
  13. track — to keep track
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. roll — a cake
  16. track — a song
  17. cold — not warm
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. cold — an illness
  20. key — in music
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. tear — to rip
  24. racket — for tennis

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