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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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rock — music
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. key — in music
  8. cold — not warm
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — to wash
  11. swing — in golf
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. chip — to eat
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — for betting
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rock — a stone
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. swing — to play on
  22. club — a group
  23. key — for a lock
  24. swing — music

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