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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. track — to keep track
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. band — a music group
  5. bat — the animal
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. fall — to drop
  8. key — for a lock
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. game — a match
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. bass — low music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. band — a ring
  17. deal — to handle
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. key — in music
  20. fall — the season
  21. track — a path
  22. bass — the fish
  23. key — the most important part
  24. track — a song

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