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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. key — the most important part
  3. court — for sport
  4. drill — a practice
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. drill — the tool
  10. craft — a skill
  11. ground — crushed
  12. wake — a trail
  13. court — of a king
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. court — of law
  17. ground — a position
  18. craft — boats
  19. ground — the earth
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. key — in music
  23. shower — to wash
  24. key — for a lock

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