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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. chip — to eat
  4. pit — a hole
  5. chair — a leader
  6. cell — in biology
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. key — for a lock
  9. mate — a partner
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pitch — completely
  18. chip — for betting
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mate — a friend
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — in music
  24. pit — in a race

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