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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. craft — a skill
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. chest — a box
  8. cell — in biology
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. chest — of your body
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — temperature
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. band — a music group
  19. craft — boats
  20. key — the most important part
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. band — a ring
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cell — a phone

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