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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. key — for a lock
  3. wind — moving air
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — to bear
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. club — for golf
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. cold — not warm
  13. key — in music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. club — a group
  20. club — for dancing
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fork — in a road

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