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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. key — the most important part
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. club — for dancing
  5. last — finally
  6. key — in music
  7. club — for golf
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. field — farmland
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — for sport
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. field — a subject
  14. last — final
  15. capital — a city
  16. stem — to come from
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. key — for a lock
  20. club — a group
  21. last — to go on
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. capital — money
  24. ruler — for measuring

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