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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 116 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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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 — animal skin
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. pop — music
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. key — for a lock
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. bark — to shout
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. board — a committee
  15. pop — soda
  16. clip — for paper
  17. key — in music
  18. board — to get on
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pop — to visit
  23. clip — a video
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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