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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. staff — employees
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. net — for catching
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. key — the most important part
  10. net — in sport
  11. stem — to come from
  12. key — in music
  13. cold — an illness
  14. net — after costs
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. spell — letters
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spell — magic
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cell — a phone

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