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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. game — a match
  3. cold — an illness
  4. key — the most important part
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. key — in music
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. game — wild animals
  9. fine — all right
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. cold — not warm
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. key — for a lock
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cold — the Cold War

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