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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. key — the most important part
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lean — to bend
  5. band — a music group
  6. degree — an amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. band — a ring
  9. key — for a lock
  10. roll — a list
  11. rock — music
  12. lean — thin
  13. degree — temperature
  14. rock — a stone
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. rest — what's left
  17. key — in music
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. rest — a break
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rest — what's left
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. clip — a video
  24. rock — to move gently

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