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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.

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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 cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. tear — from crying
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. field — farmland
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pop — soda
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pop — to visit
  13. key — in music
  14. saw — the tool
  15. kid — child
  16. field — a subject
  17. key — for a lock
  18. pop — music
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. saw — the tool
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. field — for sport
  24. tear — to rip

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