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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. file — a document
  5. game — a match
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bear — the animal
  8. last — finally
  9. cell — in biology
  10. last — to go on
  11. key — in music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. key — for a lock
  16. last — final
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. file — a tool
  19. drill — army training
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bear — the animal
  22. game — wild animals
  23. file — a line of people
  24. drill — the tool

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