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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. prune — to trim
  3. club — for golf
  4. key — for a lock
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. bound — tied together
  7. cold — not warm
  8. key — in music
  9. key — the most important part
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. club — for dancing
  13. kick — in football
  14. bound — obliged
  15. rest — a break
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. prune — to trim
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cold — an illness
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. rest — what's left
  24. club — a group

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