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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. degree — from a university
  3. drill — the tool
  4. key — the most important part
  5. present — there
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. key — in music
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. present — the time now
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. degree — an amount
  14. lean — to bend
  15. capital — a city
  16. present — a gift
  17. pit — a hole
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. degree — temperature
  21. drill — army training
  22. capital — money
  23. pit — in a race
  24. drill — a practice

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