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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. kid — child
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. spring — of water
  5. field — a subject
  6. key — in music
  7. spring — the season
  8. key — for a lock
  9. chip — to eat
  10. field — farmland
  11. clip — a video
  12. spring — a coil
  13. chip — for betting
  14. charge — electricity
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. field — for sport
  21. charge — in control
  22. clip — for paper
  23. charge — a price
  24. clip — to cut

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