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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 116 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. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. key — for a lock
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. field — a subject
  6. track — a song
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. rash — hasty
  10. row — a line
  11. cold — not warm
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. cold — an illness
  15. club — for dancing
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. club — for golf
  18. field — farmland
  19. rash — a series
  20. row — to paddle
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. chair — a leader
  24. field — for sport

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