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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cell — a phone
  4. drill — the tool
  5. game — a match
  6. drill — a practice
  7. key — in music
  8. mug — a cup
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. key — for a lock
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. mug — to rob
  13. net — after costs
  14. key — the most important part
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bear — the animal
  17. mug — a face
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. net — for catching
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — army training

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