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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. This piece is in a major ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. key — the most important part
  3. key — for a lock
  4. bass — low music
  5. stock — goods
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. board — a committee
  11. tube — a container
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bass — the fish
  14. board — to get on
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — help
  17. tube — the underground
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. lie — to recline

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