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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. staff — employees
  3. key — the most important part
  4. staff — employees
  5. field — farmland
  6. row — to paddle
  7. hand — help
  8. key — for a lock
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — for sport
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. scale — size or range
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. key — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. staff — a stick
  20. row — a line
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — a position
  23. mine — for digging
  24. scale — 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