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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. key — for a lock
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. game — wild animals
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. snap — to click
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. face — to confront
  11. key — the most important part
  12. game — a match
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — crushed
  16. rest — what's left
  17. face — to point toward
  18. ground — the earth
  19. band — a music group
  20. rest — a break
  21. face — part of the head
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. rest — what's left
  24. key — in music

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