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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 120 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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. shower — to wash
  4. spring — the season
  5. bay — to keep at bay
  6. spring — of water
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. file — a line of people
  9. band — a music group
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. key — in music
  12. key — for a lock
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. band — a ring
  16. row — a line
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a tool
  20. spring — a coil
  21. shower — rain
  22. row — to paddle
  23. file — a document
  24. hide — animal skin

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