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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. key — the most important part
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. key — for a lock
  9. saw — the tool
  10. staff — employees
  11. key — in music
  12. fork — in a road
  13. staff — employees
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. staff — a stick
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — a subject
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. field — farmland
  21. cold — an illness
  22. field — for sport
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bulb — for light

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