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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — for a lock
  4. toast — bread
  5. hand — in cards
  6. key — in music
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. field — for sport
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. band — a ring
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — a subject
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. field — farmland
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. hand — help
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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