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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. court — for sport
  3. key — in music
  4. key — for a lock
  5. court — of law
  6. face — to point toward
  7. field — for sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — a position
  10. face — to confront
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. root — of a plant
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — to trim
  15. root — the cause
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. court — of a king
  19. ground — the earth
  20. rash — hasty
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — farmland
  23. face — part of the head
  24. root — of a word

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