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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. pitch — completely
  7. band — a ring
  8. current — electric
  9. current — happening now
  10. key — for a lock
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. game — a match
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. key — in music
  16. game — wild animals
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. spell — magic
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. current — of water
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. game — a kind of play

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