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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. race — a contest
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. key — for a lock
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spring — a coil
  11. key — in music
  12. band — a music group
  13. foot — a measure
  14. spring — of water
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. key — the most important part
  17. race — humankind
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spring — the season
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. field — a subject
  24. race — the arms race

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