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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. tube — a container
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — not warm
  5. tube — the underground
  6. swing — to play on
  7. court — of law
  8. snap — to click
  9. court — for sport
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. swing — music
  12. key — for a lock
  13. court — of a king
  14. key — in music
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. swing — in golf
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cold — an illness
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. pitcher — a jug

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