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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. degree — an amount
  4. court — of a king
  5. key — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. stock — shares
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. court — of law
  11. court — for sport
  12. pop — to visit
  13. stock — goods
  14. chest — a box
  15. pop — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rest — a break
  18. rest — what's left
  19. pop — soda
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. degree — from a university
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. rest — what's left
  24. nail — for a hammer

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