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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. band — a music group
  4. court — of law
  5. band — a ring
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. roll — a list
  9. ground — the earth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. roll — a cake
  16. ground — crushed
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. key — in music
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of a king
  23. fork — in a road
  24. key — for a lock

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