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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. key — for a lock
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bat — the animal
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. track — to keep track
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. spell — a short time
  12. field — a subject
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. spell — magic
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. field — for sport
  17. track — a path
  18. rash — a series
  19. key — in music
  20. field — farmland
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. track — a song
  24. spell — letters

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