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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 116 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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. wake — a trail
  3. field — a subject
  4. object — to protest
  5. object — an aim
  6. wind — moving air
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. object — a thing
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. field — farmland
  11. capital — a city
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. key — for a lock
  14. fork — in a road
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. capital — money
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. key — in music
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. squash — the sport
  24. field — for sport

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