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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. file — a tool
  4. land — ground
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a line of people
  7. pitch — completely
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. key — for a lock
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. key — in music
  14. march — music
  15. file — a document
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. stand — to bear
  18. land — to come down
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. land — a country
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. stand — on your feet

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