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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 124 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. rash — a series
  4. key — the most important part
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. field — farmland
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spring — the season
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bat — the animal
  11. band — a music group
  12. field — for sport
  13. pound — a weight
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. spring — of water
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. key — for a lock
  18. spring — a coil
  19. rash — hasty
  20. band — a ring
  21. field — a subject
  22. key — in music
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pound — for dogs

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