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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. track — a path
  3. court — for sport
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. date — the fruit
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. court — of law
  9. chest — of your body
  10. key — for a lock
  11. track — a song
  12. swing — to play on
  13. chest — a box
  14. club — a group
  15. track — to keep track
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. chest — of your body
  18. swing — in golf
  19. club — for dancing
  20. court — of a king
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. club — for golf
  23. key — in music
  24. swing — 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