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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. field — farmland
  3. race — humankind
  4. ball — a dance
  5. bass — low music
  6. race — the arms race
  7. key — the most important part
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. ball — a great time
  10. wound — an injury
  11. degree — an amount
  12. race — a contest
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. key — in music
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. wound — an injury
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bass — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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