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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 120 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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. field — farmland
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. stem — to come from
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. key — in music
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. key — for a lock
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. field — a subject
  12. shower — to wash
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. snap — to click
  18. shower — rain
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. field — for sport

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