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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. land — to come down
  5. club — for golf
  6. key — the most important part
  7. hand — in cards
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. club — for dancing
  10. face — to point toward
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. key — in music
  14. cell — a phone
  15. club — a group
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — to play on
  18. land — a country
  19. hand — help
  20. swing — music
  21. land — ground
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to confront
  24. fork — in a road

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