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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. stock — shares
  6. board — a committee
  7. lean — to bend
  8. row — a line
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. key — for a lock
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lean — thin
  13. board — to get on
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. board — a flat piece
  16. stock — goods
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. date — the fruit
  23. key — in music
  24. row — to paddle

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