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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. key — in music
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. key — the most important part
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cap — a lid
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — farmland
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pass — a permit
  15. net — after costs
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. cap — of ice
  21. field — a subject
  22. field — for sport
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cap — a hat

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