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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. game — wild animals
  3. charge — electricity
  4. game — a match
  5. charge — a price
  6. cold — an illness
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. pitch — completely
  10. key — in music
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. row — to paddle
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. net — after costs
  17. key — the most important part
  18. cold — not warm
  19. row — a line
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. branch — a division
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. charge — in control
  24. game — a kind of play

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