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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. stem — to come from
  3. key — in music
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. row — a line
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. key — for a lock
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. squash — the sport
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. squash — to crush
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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