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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. prune — to trim
  3. key — the most important part
  4. spring — of water
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. rule — government
  7. field — farmland
  8. file — a line of people
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. spring — a coil
  11. field — a subject
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. kick — in football
  14. field — for sport
  15. spring — the season
  16. prune — to trim
  17. file — a tool
  18. rule — a law
  19. board — a committee
  20. file — a document
  21. board — to get on
  22. key — in music
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. rule — to rule out

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