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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a ring
  4. land — ground
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. hand — help
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a plant
  16. fine — all right
  17. land — to come down
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. key — in music
  21. land — a country
  22. root — of a word
  23. hand — in cards
  24. prune — the fruit

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