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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. field — a subject
  4. wind — moving air
  5. land — ground
  6. field — for sport
  7. key — the most important part
  8. bore — to drill
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. land — to come down
  14. bore — to tire
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. mine — for digging
  21. land — a country
  22. field — farmland
  23. key — in music
  24. mine — belonging to me

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