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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. net — after costs
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a great time
  7. stock — goods
  8. game — wild animals
  9. clip — for paper
  10. game — a match
  11. key — in music
  12. track — to keep track
  13. key — for a lock
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — to cut
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. stock — shares
  21. net — in sport
  22. track — a path
  23. ball — a dance
  24. track — a song

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