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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cold — not warm
  4. chest — of your body
  5. key — the most important part
  6. snap — to click
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. chest — of your body
  11. degree — an amount
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. chest — a box
  18. key — in music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. mate — a partner
  21. cold — an illness
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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