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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ground — the earth
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. swing — in golf
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. rule — government
  15. key — the most important part
  16. swing — to play on
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — help
  20. swing — music
  21. key — in music
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. field — a subject
  24. ground — a position

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