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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 120 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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. key — for a lock
  3. mug — a face
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. field — a subject
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. key — in music
  8. spell — magic
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. race — humankind
  12. spell — a short time
  13. wind — moving air
  14. race — a contest
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — to rob
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. lie — to recline
  20. field — for sport
  21. key — the most important part
  22. race — the arms race
  23. field — farmland
  24. spell — letters

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