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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wound — an injury
  10. scale — in music
  11. branch — a division
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bat — the animal
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. key — in music
  19. sharp — clever
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. key — the most important part

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