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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. key — for a lock
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. stock — shares
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. field — farmland
  14. stock — goods
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. key — in music
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. field — for sport
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. plane — a tool
  21. field — a subject
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. vault — a safe
  24. patient — a sick person

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