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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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 rubber band
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. key — for a lock
  5. degree — an amount
  6. key — in music
  7. rock — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. club — for golf
  10. cap — of ice
  11. race — humankind
  12. race — a contest
  13. club — for dancing
  14. race — the arms race
  15. cap — a hat
  16. band — a ring
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rock — a stone
  19. club — a group
  20. rush — hurry
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — from a university

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