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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. degree — an amount
  3. key — the most important part
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. fall — the season
  6. mark — a grade
  7. track — a song
  8. dip — to sink
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. degree — from a university
  11. track — a path
  12. fall — to drop
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. key — in music
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fall — to drop
  19. track — to keep track
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mark — a trace

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