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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — for a lock
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. prune — to trim
  5. land — a country
  6. prune — to trim
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. ground — crushed
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. rock — a stone
  13. land — to come down
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. bass — low music
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. rock — music
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. land — ground
  21. ground — a position
  22. key — in music
  23. bass — the fish
  24. ground — the earth

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