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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 116 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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. band — a ring
  3. degree — temperature
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. mark — a grade
  7. branch — a division
  8. key — in music
  9. cold — not warm
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. degree — from a university
  12. club — for golf
  13. degree — an amount
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. club — for dancing
  16. key — for a lock
  17. mark — a trace
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. band — a music group
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. cold — an illness
  23. club — a group
  24. cold — the Cold War

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