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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. key — the most important part
  3. club — for dancing
  4. tear — from crying
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. club — for golf
  8. key — in music
  9. key — for a lock
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. bound — certain
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. fall — to drop
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. tear — from crying
  19. club — a group
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. prune — to trim
  22. fall — the season
  23. bound — obliged
  24. bound — tied together

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