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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. key — the most important part
  3. court — of law
  4. file — a document
  5. key — in music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — of a king
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. court — for sport
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — a line
  13. field — for sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. field — a subject
  17. bulb — for light
  18. file — a tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — to paddle
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bulb — for light
  24. key — for a lock

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