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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — soda
  5. drill — army training
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. drill — the tool
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. band — a ring
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — music
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — for a lock
  18. band — a music group
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. face — to confront
  22. key — in music
  23. drill — a practice
  24. band — a rubber band

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