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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 120 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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — in music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — of water
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. key — for a lock
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. wax — to grow
  12. field — for sport
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. chest — a box
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. spring — the season
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. band — a music group
  20. band — a ring
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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