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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. cap — a hat
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — to cut
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. key — for a lock
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cap — of ice
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. chest — of your body
  11. band — a music group
  12. chest — of your body
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. key — in music
  15. date — the fruit
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. clip — a video
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. ball — a great time
  20. band — a ring
  21. clip — for paper
  22. chest — a box
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. ball — a round shape

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