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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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. rash — a series
  3. cold — not warm
  4. hand — help
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. hand — in cards
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wind — moving air
  9. key — for a lock
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. key — in music
  13. roll — a list
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. roll — a cake
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. trunk — of a tree

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