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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. land — to come down
  5. court — for sport
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. court — of law
  9. stem — to come from
  10. mate — a partner
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. plane — a tool
  13. court — of a king
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. mate — to breed
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. land — ground
  18. mate — a friend
  19. land — a country
  20. key — in music
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. key — for a lock
  24. wind — moving air

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