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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. race — a contest
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. race — humankind
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. snap — to click
  9. branch — a division
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rush — hurry
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. degree — an amount
  15. race — the arms race
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bulb — for light
  19. capital — money
  20. key — in music
  21. capital — a city
  22. degree — from a university
  23. key — for a lock
  24. bulb — for light

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