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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. roll — a cake
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. key — the most important part
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. club — a group
  14. band — a ring
  15. club — for dancing
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. band — a music group
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. tube — the underground
  21. bark — to shout
  22. tube — a container
  23. key — for a lock
  24. key — in music

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