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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 120 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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. key — the most important part
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. key — in music
  5. rush — hurry
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. present — there
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — for a lock
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. present — a gift
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. degree — temperature
  24. present — the time now

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