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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. charge — electricity
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. charge — a price
  7. wind — moving air
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. key — for a lock
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. charge — in control
  14. ground — crushed
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fork — in a road
  20. key — the most important part
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — a position
  23. wind — moving air
  24. branch — a division

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