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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. land — ground
  3. object — to protest
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. bound — obliged
  7. land — a country
  8. bound — tied together
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. land — to come down
  11. bound — certain
  12. bat — the animal
  13. hand — help
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. object — an aim
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. hand — in cards
  20. key — in music
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. key — the most important part
  23. object — a thing
  24. coach — a trainer

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