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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. kid — to tease
  3. key — in music
  4. rest — what's left
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — the most important part
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. press — a publisher
  10. mine — for digging
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. press — to push
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. track — a song
  15. rest — a break
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. track — to keep track
  18. rest — what's left
  19. hand — help
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. press — newspapers

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