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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — in music
  4. stock — shares
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. court — for sport
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. last — final
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. key — for a lock
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bound — obliged
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — for digging
  17. bound — certain
  18. court — of law
  19. bound — tied together
  20. last — finally
  21. cold — not warm
  22. last — to go on
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — goods

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