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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. cold — an illness
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. key — the most important part
  6. last — final
  7. club — for golf
  8. key — for a lock
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tube — the underground
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. last — to go on
  13. track — a path
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. last — finally
  16. club — a group
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. track — a song
  19. degree — an amount
  20. key — in music
  21. tube — a container
  22. degree — temperature
  23. degree — from a university
  24. track — to keep track

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