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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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. dip — to dunk
  4. drill — a practice
  5. dip — to sink
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. degree — temperature
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. hand — in cards
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. ground — the earth
  12. court — of a king
  13. degree — from a university
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. hand — help
  16. ground — a position
  17. fork — in a road
  18. ground — crushed
  19. court — of law
  20. court — for sport
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — the tool
  23. key — in music
  24. degree — an amount

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