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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spell — a short time
  5. club — for golf
  6. track — a song
  7. key — in music
  8. spell — letters
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. club — a group
  11. staff — a stick
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — to cut
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. key — the most important part
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cell — in biology
  19. track — to keep track
  20. squash — the sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cell — a phone
  23. clip — a video
  24. track — a path

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