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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 116 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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. band — a music group
  4. present — a gift
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. present — the time now
  7. band — a ring
  8. cap — a hat
  9. present — there
  10. field — for sport
  11. march — the month
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. key — for a lock
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cap — of ice
  17. march — music
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. march — the month
  20. swing — music
  21. key — in music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. swing — in golf

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