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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. key — the most important part
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. key — in music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. swing — to play on
  7. land — ground
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. fork — in a road
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. land — to come down
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. ground — a position
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — an amount
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. degree — from a university
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. key — for a lock

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