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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. key — the most important part
  3. pop — soda
  4. file — a line of people
  5. spell — a short time
  6. field — for sport
  7. pop — to visit
  8. key — for a lock
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. key — in music
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. field — farmland
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — magic
  16. cell — a phone
  17. field — a subject
  18. saw — the tool
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. file — a tool
  22. pop — music
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. file — a document

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