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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. key — the most important part
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mug — a cup
  5. field — for sport
  6. key — in music
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. degree — an amount
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mug — to rob
  13. wind — moving air
  14. field — farmland
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mug — a face
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. degree — temperature
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — from a university
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. field — a subject

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