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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. jam — to spread on bread
  3. band — a ring
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. key — the most important part
  6. wound — an injury
  7. key — in music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. vault — a safe
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — the earth
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. field — a subject
  16. ground — a position
  17. field — for sport
  18. key — for a lock
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. field — farmland
  22. band — a music group
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. ground — crushed

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